Protesting sugar planters should've lobbied in congress

“That’s what mayors do. They lobby Congress to provide resources for their city.” Maxine Waters

By Alex P. Vidal

TRAFFIC gridlock is worsening in the Bonifacio Drive, City Proper due to the on-going road-widening construction project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from the foot of Forbes Bridge (the bridge that connects Iloilo City Proper to the districts of La Paz and Jaro across the Iloilo River).

Because it is a main street used by motorists going to the districts of La Paz and Jaro and those going to the City Proper, the gridlock results in monstrous traffic in the adjoining Gen. Luna and Iznart Streets.

Vehicles stopped on the bridge causing heavy inconvenience on the riding public.

Because they are late in their offices, schools and other transactions, programs and activities, people who take the Jaro Liko, Jaro CPU and La Paz passenger jeeps and cabs curse the city hall, the DPWH, including President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

They also use expletives to describe their harrowing ordeal in the traffic.

And nobody disagrees with them.

The city’s traffic management should do something to solve the problem as soon as possible.

-o0o-

WHERE was the Jalasig Sugarcane Planters Association, a group composed of sugar industry leaders in central Iloilo, when congress was deliberating the Senate Bill No. 2400 or the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, which sought to make the sugarcane industry more competitive by consolidating small farms?

The measure also reiterated the exemption of refined sugar for export from value-added tax (VAT).

It sought to prepare the country’s industry for integration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic community by the end of 2015.

The Iloilo sugar planters should have fought tongs and hammer during the committee deliberations to also exempt raw sugar from 12 percent VAT.

Their chances to be heard were great.

The measure was known in the Lower House as House Bill no. 4633, and one of the measure’s authors was Rep. Sharon Garin (AAMBIS-OWA party-list).

With some 40,000 members, Jalasig Sugarcane Planters Association, is a force to reckon with in the industry.

ILONGGO

Garin and another Ilonggo Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Negros Occidental, third district) would have given weight to their representation.  

The measure sought to consolidate farms smaller than five hectares into blocks to make management “more professionalized” and ensure better delivery of assistance.

It would institutionalize the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s (SRA) Block Farming Program, explained Senate agriculture committee chair Cynthia A. Villar.

In their rally in Zarraga, Iloilo on March 25, sugarcane farmers asked President Aquino and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares to scrap the 12 percent VAT on raw sugar.

The government requires sugar cane planters to pay in advance the 12 percent VAT before the commodities are removed from refineries and distributed to customers.

Iloilo leaders ready to secure embattled P-Noy

“Life is not a solo act. It's a huge collaboration, and we all need to assemble around us the people who care about us and support us in times of strife.” Tim Gunn

By Alex P. Vidal

ILOILO appears to be the safest haven for the country’s highest official during political upheavals in a nationwide scale.

Ilonggo leaders have always been quick and firm in making a political stand.

They are aware that President Simeon Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III draws strength from them.

President Aquino is aware, too, that the Ilonggo leaders are willing to sink and swim with him.

After all, he feeds them well.

Ditto for the police and the military.

If he can’t stand the political and military heats in Metro Manila, President Aquino can transfer the Malacanang Palace in Iloilo where almost all the local leaders here don’t want him to step down amid rumors of coup d’etat.

Mr. Aquino will be safe in Iloilo as long as Gov. Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr., Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Iloilo City Rep. Jerry P. Treñas, among other local chief executives and representatives are in power.

While other political leaders in the country have been mum over the simmering calls from various sectors for the president to relinquish his post in the heels of the “Mamasapano 44” debacle these past weeks, Iloilo leaders have rejected calls for Aquino’s resignation.

Negros Occidental leaders also joined those who want the president to finish his term until 2016.

SHIELD

It’s the people and the leaders in the entire Western Visayas who are willing to shield the president from those agitating for his resignation.

The Ilonggos also sneered at the call to impeach Mr. Aquino if he won’t step down.

They fear political destabilization and economic meltdown once the president has been removed or forced to resign.

Back in July 2005, Senate President Franklin Drilon asked then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to relocate the seat of power in Iloilo while the president’s enemies were ganging up on her for the “Hello Garci” fiasco.

Drilon, however, turned his back from Mrs. Arroyo several days later and joined those who wanted her to yield the presidency to then Vice President Noli De Castro.

Drilon wanted to be the next vice president via the rule of succession.

There are no signs that Mr. Aquino’s Iloilo allies will abandon ship and surrender him on a silver platter to the enemies.

They are four square behind the president.

“The Moro rebels are Filipinos, too. They are under our laws so they should also be held accountable for any violations of our criminal law,” Defensor announced recently.

“Let the Board of Inquiry investigate the incident. Let the Senate and the House (of Representatives) investigate it, better under a joint investigating committee. Let’s all wait for the result. The peace process should not prevent the government from seeking justice for the 44 killed SAF members.”

GRAB

Treñas also tagged as a “call for grab power” the move to compel the president to resign and to be held accountable in the tragic massacre of the 44 elite cops.

The congressman said: “What happened in Mamasapano is one of the darkest chapters of our history. But what’s even more lamentable is the fact that some people cannot simply resist the urge to use the misfortunes of our nation for their own selfish agenda. This call for President Aquino’s resignation is a nothing but a call for power grab.”

Mr. Aquino can sleep tight while under the watchful eyes of his Western Visayas allies.

The 34-member Visayan bloc led by Treñas and Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez have already issued a manifesto of support for the president come hell or high water.

For these Visayan allies, the accountability and criminal liability should only fall on those who planned and implemented the operation against Marwan, a terrorist killed during the January 25 raid in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

The manifesto read: “We…commiserate and empathize with the families of the 44 members of the SAF who died during the said Mamasapano operation. We demand accountability for those who planned and implemented the debacle and the imposition of criminal liability for those responsible for the massacre.

SOLUTION

“Change in administration should be the farthest solution to what happened in Maguindano and should not be our response to our currently hurting nation….The Mamasapano incident should create unity and strong front among us Filipinos instead of discord.”

They stressed that “The nation and our colleagues in the Philippine Congress to focus on the investigations and call for swift and thorough deliberations on what happened in the Mamasapano operation.

“The probe should immediately identify those who should be accountable for what happened, ensure that perpetrators of the massacre suffer the full force of our penal laws, and develop remedies that would prevent another incident from happening in the future to the men in uniform who are only fulfilling their vows to promote peace and order in the country.”

Just DOH it!

“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations... can never effect a reform.”   Susan B. Anthony

By Alex P. Vidal

IN December last year, acting Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin sobbed that she was hurt by the intense politicking and name-calling in the department.

She never mentioned who called someone “bobo” (idiot) and “gaga” (dumb), but the former Iloilo first district solon gave people who saw her TV interview the bird’s eye view on what was going on in the DOH since she assumed as acting secretary, when resigned Secretary Enrique Ona went on leave in November.

She was apparently at loggerheads with some DOH bigwigs loyal to Ona.

At the time of name-calling and apparent rudeness displayed by the male species and spoiled brats in the department, there was no hint that Ona could not anymore get back his post.

Unknown to most outsiders, Loreto-Garin, the most junior undersecretary in the DOH, was being bullied by rapscallions who felt uneasy working under a woman acting secretary, and who feared sweeping reforms once Ona’s vacation would be extended. 

Alas, Ona’s resignation was accepted by President Benigno Aquino III before Christmas 2014.

The atmosphere in the DOH completely changed when the president announced he would appoint Loreto-Garin as regular secretary after the Papal Visit this month.

IN-COMING

Loreto-Garin’s incoming appointment as regular DOH chief would be a slapped on the faces of those who had earlier predicted she would be relegated back to her old post as undersecretary.

It turned out Loreto-Garin has the trust and confidence of President Aquino and was the president’s apple as Ona’s replacement even before Ona resigned.

In between Loreto-Garin’s anguish from the verbal snipes uncorked by “insecure” DOH underlings and the president’s announcement of her appointment as regular DOH chief was the furor involving hitherto Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag, who had been reportedly “demoted”.

Tayag, known as the dancing doctor, and Ona are among the health officials being investigated for the alleged anomalous DOH purchase of anti-pneumonia vaccines for children.

The probe is being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as ordered by President Aquino.

Tayag was allegedly the one who ordered the procurement of the PCV-10 instead of the cost-effective PCV-13 for the DOH’s Expanded Vaccination Program.

Although Loreto-Garin did not reveal who were her supposed tormentors, the grapevine said one of them was Tayag.

CONFIRM

This was never confirmed by both Loreto-Garin and Tayag but many insiders claimed that both DOH bigwigs “don’t see each other eyeball to eyeball” whatever that means.

“Tayag’s loyalty is still with Ona and Loreto-Garin’s appointment must have sent shivers down his spine and the spines of Tayag’s cohorts,” sources said.

The lady DOH official, wife of Iloilo first district Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin, Jr., has promised to initiate reforms once she takes over the helm of the DOH as a regular secretary.

She said there were clamors from several officials to fix the DOH organizational structure.

In changing Tayag’s designation, Loreto-Garin clarified that “it was not a demotion because his actual position is really director IV.”

“Sometimes it creates confusion since there are some assistant secretaries who are assistant secretaries by career,” Loreto-Garin said. “We did this with consultation.”

“Doc Tayag was even one of those (directors) who volunteered to me to remove (the title) ASec because he said he was not really an ASec,” Loreto-Garin explained.

It was part of the DOH streamlining, she further said.

Whatever reforms she has in mind for the DOH, Loreto-Garin must do it without fear and favor.

She has the full support of the president and not even the most loquacious and arrogant male underlings can pose as obstacles in her quest to improve the department long bedeviled by anomalies and structural defects.

Just DOH it, Madame Secretary!

Iloilo mayors for Roxas; councilors for Binay

“When people show loyalty to you, you take care of those who are with you. It's how it goes with everything. If you have a small circle of friends, and one of those friends doesn't stay loyal to you, they don't stay your friend for very long.” John Cena

By Alex P. Vidal

LOYALTY to the party over a personal choice.

This must be the stand adopted by most city and municipal mayors in Iloilo who are supposedly backing the presidential bid of DILG chief Mar Roxas in 2016.

Most of these mayors attributed their victory in the last local elections to the ruling Liberal Party (LP), thus they can’t just discard Roxas, who is President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III's personal choice.

Even if some of them dislike Roxas’ temerity to show off in “epal” gimmickry, these local chief executives have to toe the line or else.

In the 2013 elections, LP’s machinery was too much for those identified with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose bets from national down to the municipal levels suffered unprecedented massacre.

Because of their victories as LP-anointed bets, these city and municipal mayors owe LP and the President a debt of gratitude.

BEHOLDEN

Because they are beholden to Malacanang, they have no choice but to publicly endorse Roxas.

But many of these city and municipal mayors have developed a personal friendship with Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay Sr., opposition’s strongest bet for the top post in Malacanang.

Binay has been patiently paying them a visit one after another, but don’t talk about politics so as not to send panic alarms to the eyes and ears of Malacanang.

Binay, however, is very popular among city and municipal councilors.

Some members of the Iloilo provincial board are also pro-Binay but don’t display their preference at this early in respect to Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.

Many Iloilo City councilors are also all-out for Binay but remain loyal to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and, of course, to President Aquino.

Mabilog does not interfere with the choice of his allies in the city council, but assures President Aquino of his “unwavering” support and loyalty.

Mabilog is democratic when it comes to individual political stand of his city council allies.

As long as they support the programs and projects of President Aquino in the metropolis, Mabilog doesn’t give a hoot about the political preference of city councilors for national office.

AGREE

The city councilors and Mabilog, however, agree on one unwritten but golden political rule: spare President Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon of any unfavorable harangue.

In fact, Joshua Alim, one of the most senior members of the city council, has become Binay’s virtual campaign manager and spokesman in this part of the country.

Alim has been passionately defending Binay in media interviews and even called the ongoing Senate investigation on Binay’s alleged anomalies in Makati city hall as “political persecution and harassment from the elite who wanted to topple down the vice president.”

Alim also does not hide his impatience when he sees negative comments on Facebook against the vice president and makes it a point to defend Binay by hook or by crook.

When Roxas visited Iloilo most recently, some of the streamers Alim’s group put up in various intersections supporting and endorsing Binay disappeared one after another.

Alim cried foul and accused Binay’s detractors to be behind the “sabotage.”

Many village chiefs have also signified their support for the diminutive second highest position of the land despite the almost daily bombshells being unloaded against him on national and local media.

It’s still a long way to go in as far as wooing the support of grass roots leadership is concerned.

The ballgame is still open, fluid and unpredictable.

Many sips-sips (sycophants) in the local level are still expected to jump ship and betray their partymates.

This early no one can claim he has the majority of local leaders in the bag.

'Lovers' quarrel’

“A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship.” Saint Francis de Sales

By Alex P. Vidal

WE won’t be surprised if the Pasay City prosecutor’s office will dismiss the libel case Senate President Franklin Drilon filed against his former Iloilo media consultant, Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada.

In the first place, the two are not strangers to each other.

It looks like a lovers' quarrel.

Mejorada was Drilon’s former Twitter account handler and Drilon was the one who endorsed the former’s appointment either as TESDA regional director or area manager of the New Iloilo Airport.

Mejorada failed to bag any of the positions.

Their closeness developed when Mejorada was the provincial administrator of former Iloilo Governor Neil D. Tupas Sr. and Drilon was ally of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

It was believed that Tupas, Drilon’s No. 1 political supporter then, bridged their friendship.

When Drilon severed his ties with Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo via the “Hyatt 10” mutiny, he remained as Mejorada’s friend.

LOYAL

As a loyal subaltern, Mejorada campaigned for then Liberal Party presidential candidate, Simeon Benigno “Noynoy Aquino III in Iloilo.

Almost all of those identified with Team Liberal Party cornered juicy positions when President Aquino took over, except Mejorada.

Mejorada anxiously waited for any position to arrive but to no avail.

There was no explanation from Drilon why the promised position was not delivered.

In his complaint-affidavit, Drilon revealed: “Mr. Manuel Mejorada ("Mr. Mejorada") was my consultant and served as one of my media relations officer (sic) in the Province of Iloilo from

1 September 2010 to 31 December 2010 and again from 1 January 2011 to 30 June 2011.

“As a consultant, he enjoyed my trust and confidence. It was by reason of this trust that I even recommended him to various posts in the government.

“In particular, I recommended his appointment as

Regional Director of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Airport Manager of the New Iloilo Airport.

“Unfortunately, despite my recommendation, he did not get appointed to either post.”

Was Mejorada taken for a ride?

BUMP

Did somebody bump someone for the coveted post or posts?

Weeks of waiting turned into months of speculations.

No appointment came from the higher office whatsoever.

While the boys were partying and enjoying the bacchanalia, someone has been left out cold.

Meanwhile, Mejorada filed a barrage of criminal cases against Drilon, et al before the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the alleged overpriced Iloilo Esplanade spearheaded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office.

Drilon decided to sue Mejorada after the latter allegedly “betrayed my trust by using my social media accounts to attack political personalities in the Province of Iloilo.”

Drilon added: “Because of this, I lost confidence in him and I decided not to renew his consultancy contract in July 2011.

“It was after this non-renewal of his consultancy contract that Mr. Mejorada began the publication of several libelous statements against me through different internet media.

FACEBOOK

“In particular, Mr. Mejorada used his Facebook account and Wordpress2 blog entitled "Mejorada's Point of View" to publish libelous articles against me.

“On 30 September 2013, Mr. Mejorada published another blog entry on Wordpress called ‘Putting Safety on the Line-the Iloilo  Convention Center.’ In this entry, Mr. Mejorada claimed that I had chosen an architectural firm to prepare the design of the Iloilo Convention Center without complying with the bidding requirement under the Government Procurement Reform Act.

“Mr. Mejorada also posted pictures on Facebook on 14 January 2014. The pictures depicted the earth-filling project in the Iloilo Circumferential Road in Ungka, Pavia. He then described the picture as ‘Drilon's version of the Macapagal Boulevard--grossly overpriced."

In his latest Facebook comment, Mejorada wrote: “Indeed I am flattered by this libel complaint filed by the Senate President. Publicly, and under oath, he confessed to being an avid reader of my blog, ‘Mejorada's Point of View’ on Wordpress.Com.”

We tolerate corrupt leaders

“Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we're tired of hearing promises that we know they'll never keep.” Ray Davies

By Alex P. Vidal

No Ilonggo politician has been jailed for graft and corruption.

But many politicians from Western Visayas have pending cases in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Some of them have already retired or still active in public service, while others have already died.

There has been no conviction in the P125-million Pavia Housing scam in Pavia, Iloilo committed by prominent characters in Iloilo city government more than 10 years ago, but some of the accused are already dead if not retired.

Most of those facing graft charges normally belong to the opposition and their cases are the ones being expedited if the administration considers them as threats in the next elections.

While cases against the opposition are prioritized and tackled like a speed of light, cases filed against politicians allied with the administration gather cobwebs and may never even be remembered until the changing of the guards in the Office of the Ombudsman, when the next president takes over the helm of the Malacanang.  

BELIEVE

That’s why we don’t believe that Senate President Franklin Drilon of Molo, Iloilo City will be jailed for graft and corruption.

We don’t believe that the graft cases filed against him by his former Twitter account handler, Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada for the alleged overpricing of Iloilo Esplanade, etecetera; and former TESDA chief Augusto “Buboy” Syjuco for alleged overpricing of the Iloilo Hall of Justice, etcetera will ever reach first base.

Drilon is one of the most powerful personalities in the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III today; the most influential honco in the kingdom of the Liberal Party.

As the third highest official of the country, Drilon enjoys the protection of no less than the President and his cabal who are also die-hard LP stalwarts.

He is even one of their rumored candidates for vice president in the 2016 elections.

The Office of the Ombudsman, as a quasi-judicial body, can never claim independence from Malacanang if it allows itself to be used as a tool by the Malacanang to persecute those identified with the opposition, but is lenient to those identified with the administration.

TOLERATE

The Philippines is probably one of the countries in Asia, if not the world, that tolerates and even elects into office corrupt politicians.

Even if many of the rumored aspirants for the highest positions in the country are tainted in the imbroglio related to misuse of pork barrel funds and other graft and corruption scandals, Filipinos are still willing to give them mandates in 2016.

Even if the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will establish the guilt of the Binays in the multi-billion Makati parking space scandal, Vice President Jejomar Binay will remain as the leading aspirant for the presidency of the country two years from now.

Binay is extremely popular in Western Visayas, including in Capiz, the bailiwick of DILG Secretary Mar Roxas.

So many politicians in Iloilo, Negros, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Guimaras have shifted allegiance to Binay. And their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds.

DIMINISH

For these local politicians, graft and corruption issue will never diminish the vice president’s chances in 2016.

We continue to tolerate and elect into office even the worst politicians. That’s why we deteriorate as a nation. Corruption eats up the very foundation of our socio-economic and political spheres.

The practical difficulty surrounding the effort to get rid of corruption is enormous. It comes from all sides. The biggest is the obstacles arising from a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy, warned Syed Hussein Alatas, in his book, “Corruption and the Destiny of Asia.”

Any effort to correct injustice and reduce the suffering of the victims should be attempted however limited its success may be. The experience itself is valuable and revealing, explained Alatas.

Can Floyd and Pacman play together in PBA?

“A good teammate is someone willing to get outside of personal thoughts and emotions, a friend who tries to understand, appreciate, and encourage other members of the team.” Don Kardong

By Alex P. Vidal

Can the two feuding members of the Supreme Court work together harmoniously?

Can Floyd Mayweather Jr. be an effective basketball player if he is allowed to play in the PBA with Manny Pacquiao as his coach in the team?

This is the dilemma our higher court is facing today now that Ilonggo lawyer Francis H. Jardeleza has been appointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III as associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Jardeleza’s ascension to the higher court had to pass through the proverbial hole of the needle after his nomination was earlier blocked by no less than Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who chaired the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

JBC recommends to the President the final names in the shortlist.

Jardeleza’s name had been scratched out earlier due to the opposition of Sereno, a fellow former faculty member of the University of the Philippines College of Law.

The Ilonggo jurist had to fight tooth and nail before he was given the appointment paper by President Aquino last August 19, shortly after winning his case in the Supreme Court that compelled the JBC to reinstate his name again.

INTERESTING

It’s very interesting to know how will Jardeleza and Sereno work together in an atmosphere where they can’t even see each other eyeball to eyeball.

We can’t wait to see them differ on certain legal issues and read their respective arguments on separate pieces of papers.

This is the beauty of having two great but hostile minds in the legal profession joining together in one chamber.  

Many observers perceive Jardeleza to be better than his superior Sereno. This could be the main source of Sereno’s insecurity, thus she tried to move heaven and earth to block Jardeleza’s entry to the Supreme Court to no avail.

If Mayweather won’t listen to the instructions from coach Pacquiao during timeout, will Pacquiao berate him and reduce him to a mere benchwarmer?

Will Mayweather allow coach Pacquiao to tell him what to do inside the hard court when deep inside Mayweather believes that he is the better boxer and the better basketball player? 

****

It’s always difficult to convict an accused in a criminal case because the prosecutor has to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

If there is doubt, you acquit, is the standard legal maxim of court judges.

This seemed to be what happened in the case of murdered rebel returnee, Romeo “Ka Romy” Capalla of Oton, Iloilo.

The case police filed against suspect Julie Cabino and four other John Does, was recently dismissed by the provincial prosecutor’s office for lack of evidence.

“From all indications, it would show that respondent Cabino was not the same person who acted as back-up in the killing of Capalla. The identity of the perpetrator is a must to secure criminal conviction,” ruled Prosecutor Bernabe Dusaban.

REAL MCCOYS

If Gabino, et al were not the real McCoys, who killed Ka Romy?

It’s disturbing that a high-profile personality like Ka Romy can’t get justice after being murdered like an animal.

If this can happen to a former top-ranked rebel who has returned to the fold of the law, what are the chances of other lowly rebel returnees who are also facing a similar danger in their lives?

Ka Romy, 65, was shot to death by two gunmen on March 15, 2014 in front of the Oton public market.

The assailants were reportedly backed up by three motorcycle-riding cohorts. The five fled going to Tigbauan town, witnesses said.

Ka Romy died from two gunshot wounds on the head.

He was a commander of the Corazon Chiva “Waling-Waling” Command of the New People’s Army’s (NPA) Komiteng Rehiyon Panay in the late 1970s to the early 1980s.

ARREST

Ka Romy was arrested by authorities in August 2005 for his alleged involvement in the setting on fire a construction firm’s facility in Guimbal, Iloilo in 2004.

After spending 32 days in detention, he was released when the court ruled there was no sufficient evidence to pin him down.

Ka Romy was the brother of retired Archbishop Fernando and was the director of the Panay Fair Trade Center (PFTC), a private firm that helps small farmers in Panay Island, at the time of his murder.

PFTC buys agricultural products such as banana chips, muscovado (brown) sugar and ginger tea, and exports these to Europe and the United States.

God bless the Philippines! No to coup d'etat

“The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board.”  Grover Cleveland

By Alex P. Vidal

We oppose any attempt to destabilize the government through a coup d’etat or military takeover.

According to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, some retired police generals are plotting to topple the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III. Any attempt to oust a civilian government is called a military mutiny or act of rebellion.

Coming from a senator and a former military officer to boot, the warning shouldn’t be taken lightly.

When there is smoke, there is fire, so to speak.

We can’t afford to put to waste all the sacrifices and gains made by our government officials these past years to bring back to economic life our country only because of military adventurism.

President Aquino has just delivered his 5^th State of the Nation Address (SONA) and was optimistic that the country can rebound from economic doldrums and improve the life of the 100 million Filipino people.

Together we must remain vigilant and strongly oppose any attempt to change the system of our government through violence. God bless the Philippines.

Syjuco gaining national prominence vs P-Noy

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

Was it a mistake to pick on Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco for a foe in politics?

Or is Syjuco the easiest whipping boy among all the minions identified with former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?

Ever since President Benigno Aquino III singled out former TESDA chief Augusto Syjuco, Jr. for overpriced procurement in his 4^th State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22, 2013, the former congressman from the second district of Iloilo has become one of his fiercest critics.

And Syjuco, who lost to Senate President Franklin Drilon’s best friend, Arcadio H. Gorriceta, in the 2013 Iloilo congressional elections, bites.

Like a wounded tiger, Syjuco is always ready to engage the President in a no-holds-barred tussle especially on the pork barrel issue.

With nothing to lose now that his reputation has been besmirched in the SONA, Syjuco is like Dick Tiger willing to fight in any arena as long as he is paired against President Aquino.

Each time he fires a volley against the president, vengeance is written all over his face.  

SONA

Shortly after delivering his 5^th SONA last July 28, President Aquino immediately received a bombastic reply from Syjuco, who can easily attract attention from reporters every time he fired a sally against the President.

Syjuco fired: "You seemed to fall into the right track when you said ‘in spite of this, my resolve is firm because my primary goal is clear: to return government to its original mandate-to serve the Filipino always."

He added: "Here, you unequivocally admitted that you had wrongly strayed the course of your last four years and that you would ‘return the government to its rightful mandate."

Syjuco, also former head of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, scored Mr. Aquino for exaggerating his accomplishment.

In his 5^th SONA, Mr. Aquino cited the Training for Work Scholarship Program, which managed to produce 146,731 graduates while the rest of the 223,615 still undergoing training. The program got P1.6 billion share from the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

FOUNDED

Syjuco claimed he founded the Training for Work Scholarship Program and in 2009 they have produced over 1.6 million graduates.

"Your graduates that you brag about now are only less than 13 percent of our graduates on the last year of your previous administration," Syjuco further fired at the President.

The P7,155 that the President boasted to have spent for every Tesda beneficiary is high considering that in Syjuco’s time, they only spent P5,000, insisted Syjuco, who lost twice for mayor of Makati to Vice President Jejomar Binay, before becoming  a congressman in the second district of Iloilo in 1998.

Syjuco stressed that they only paid the schools and training centers when the scholar trainee successfully passes the Tesda Certification Exam.

"And for this, Mang Noy (President Aquino) blamed me for overspending," boomed Syjuco, the first to file a petition with the high court against DAP.

The problem is nobody in Malacanang is taking Syjuco seriously. The Palace did not even reply to Syjuco’s media tirades as it did against the tirades of the opposition.

Whether he will succeed in trying to reverse public opinion to tilt on his favor, Syjuco is now fast gaining a national fame.

He can be a tough opposition firebrand once he is elected as senator in 2016 or tapped as spokesperson of the opposition now headed by his former foe and future presidential timber, Jojo Binay.

P-Noy recognizes Mabilog in SONA

“The superior man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has.” Confucius

By Alex P. Vidal

Let us give credit where credit is due.

This time, we credit Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog for standing ten feet total during the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives in the Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City last July 28.

Not all past and incumbent mayors in the country have the privilege to be recognized by a President in a SONA.

Thus when President Benigno S. Aquino III mentioned Mabilog and Binan City, Laguna Mayor Len Alonte in his SONA last July 28, Ilonggos had all the reason to be proud and honored.

“Mayroon tayong mga umaangat na bagong o mas bata sa akin pulitiko. Ayoko naman ho sabihin na napakaluma ko nang pulitiko sa pagtukoy sa mga mas bata. Mga taong tulad ni Mayor Jed Mabilog at ni Mayor Len Alonte (palakpakan),” announced President Aquino.

Mabilog, a Liberal Party (LP) die-hard and five years younger than the President, immediately posted this message in his Facebook account: “Thank You very much President Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) for the gesture and kind recognition! I am very humbled. I am Iloilo. PROUD TO BE FILIPINO.”

WIFE

Overjoyed by what she heard, Marivic G. Mabilog, the mayor’s wife, who monitored the SONA in Calgary, Canada where she is based, immediately posted this message in her Facebook account: “Like Pnoy, I'm just as proud of Jed. To be specially mentioned and recognized by the president himself in his most emotional SONA as one those political leaders who can continue his legacy for his 'matuwid na daan' is testament to Jed's brand of leadership: transparency, honesty and hardwork.”

We don’t wish to pit Mabilog and Iloilo City Rep. Jerry P. Trenas here, but during the incumbency of then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, she never accorded the same prominence to Trenas, then the president of the League of Cities, who was her former college student.

To be mentioned in a SONA should be a big boost not only to the leadership and credibility of a local chief executive, but also to the city, municipality or province.

The SONA was delivered almost a month since President Aquino visited Iloilo City last June 27 to inaugurate some multi-million pesos worth of projects that included the widened Diversion Road or formally known as Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and Iloilo River Esplanade, both in Mandurriao district here and the 14-kilometer Iloilo Circumferential Road.

CLOSER

Another reason why Iloilo became closer to the heart of President Aquino these past years is probably because of the influence of Senate President Frank Drilon, a close relative of Mabilog from Molo district.

Drilon almost got the biggest slice of the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to fund flagship projects in Iloilo worth  P720 million.

Even if the Supreme Court has ruled that the DAP is unconstitutional, some of these Iloilo projects would still push through since initial funds were already appropriated and released, the Palace had declared earlier.

President Aquino also reportedly supports Mabilog in his quest as a finalist in the World Mayor 2014. Among the criteria for the contest are: leadership and vision, management abilities and integrity, social and economic awareness, ability to provide security and protect the environment, and the will and ability to foster relations between communities from different cultural, racial and social backgrounds.

Tell us who are your friends

“Neutral men are the devil's allies.”

Edwin Hubbel Chapin

By Alex P. Vidal

The front pages of all the newspapers, headline news of all TV and radio networks yesterday said it all!

The judiciary is hell-bent not to genuflect before the executive branch, its co-equal in government, as manifested by the gallant stand of the majority of the judges, prosecutors, and other hall of justice employees all over the country who wore black last Monday to assert judicial independence.

The move was precipitated by President Benigno Aquino III’s astonishing brickbats against the Supreme Court, which had torpedoed the Palace’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) or pork barrel.

Mr. Aquino’s unprecedented tirades against the higher court initially failed to catch fire among lawmakers and local government executives.

They, too, were caught by surprise by the President’s boldness and, to some extent, stubbornness. Many mayors and governors were made to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea.

SUPPORT

But lately, some tong-gressmen, city and municipal mayors and governors started to voice their support for their embattled chief executive in Malacanang.

They were even undaunted and willing to engage in a slugfest the church’s top prelates who denounced the DAP in the pulpits.

These tong-gressmen and some local chief executives must have realized they would be accused by Malacanang as “ingrates” for abandoning the cause that benefited their districts, cities, municipalities and provinces if they did not take a stand and come to the President’s defense at this crucial moment.

A common cause that benefited their favorite contractors and, what else, their own pockets!

DAP funded most local infrastructure and public works projects through the tong-gressmen and sin-nators bribed by Malacanang to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

UNITY

In unity there is strength. United we stand, united we fall.

This must be the battlecry of the local chief executives, tong-gressmen and sin-nators who are now singing hallelujah to President Aquino.

In Negros and Iloilo, many mayors and governors have started to show their true colors by joining the Palace in justifying why DAP should not have been shot down by the Supreme Court like the Malaysian Airlines jet.

They knew that if they abandoned the king, they would be isolated politically and made to face the Commission on Audit’s wrath like condemned and captured enemies facing the firing squad.

The Supreme Court has ordered those who had feasted on the P137.3 billion worth of DAP to return the people’s money. Unable to do so would be tantamount to stealing and the act is punishable by law.

Hence, local chief executives, tong-gressmen and sin-nators are frantically moving heaven and earth in the propaganda and publicity department to reverse the storm by coming out in public and risk their reelection to defend the “good side” of DAP.

MONDAY

The court’s black Monday onslaught was a curt message to the executive branch: we are co-equal and, therefore, will not succumb to any dictatorial fulmination and display of absolute power and attempt to force us on our knees.

We will know if President Aquino’s rah-rah boys and girls in the local government units are really determined to swim and sink with their king if the League of Provinces and League of Cities and Municipalities will pass resolutions defending the president and the DAP.

Tell us who your friends are and we will tell you who you are!

World Cup of corruption

“Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.” Thomas Jefferson

By Alex P. Vidal

The next World Cup after the FIFA soccer conclave in Brazil that Filipinos should seriously get involved with is the dismantling of the triangle of graft and corruption in the country.

It’s no longer a Germany versus Argentina finale. It’s the People of the Philippines against the Kingdom of Pork Barrel.

If the reported P137.3 billion worth of taxpayers money released for the doomed Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of lawmakers and cabinet officials can’t be accounted for; and, worse, can’t be returned to the national treasury as ordered by the Supreme Court, we really need a Mario Gotze to nail our own World Cup goal against the mammoth plunderers led by President Benigno Aquino III and his ilk who control our government today.

The amount is disturbing and sickening: a whooping P137.3 billion!

If its release is unconstitutional, therefore it’s illegal.

THIEF

In our country, a small-time thief who steals a penny will rot in jail if he can’t afford a top-notch lawyer to defend him in court.

If the thief who steals hundreds of millions of pesos is an elected public official, he can dilly dally his case and gets away if he or she is an administration ally. A clear case of double standard of justice.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, we haven’t heard our local officials – city and town mayors, provincial governors and other elected officials down to the barangay level—demand from our corrupt legislators to refund the DAP or pork barrel share they had siphoned from the national treasury. Some of them claimed that DAP funds were spent by lawmakers to finance public works and infrastructure projects in their cities and provinces, thus the money benefited their constituents. Birds of the same feather.

If the funds were sourced from a poisonous tree, they don’t have the moral grounds to stand on. The end does not justify the means.

SITUATION

We are in a situation where at stake is our national pride, reputation and future as a nation. Election by election or year by year, we are being taken for a ride by politicians who promised to end our miseries and give us a good life.

Once they are in power, they connive to plunder the nation and further impoverish the people. Stealing continues to be the favorite passion of our government officials.

We have not graduated from this moral malady ever since we kicked out Marcos in the EDSA revolution. Corruption has eaten up our vast resources and demoralized the people who continue to wallow in abject poverty and live miserably below the survival level.

We badly need a World Cup finale against massive graft and corruption and exorcise this country of demonic and rapacious leaders before they could permanently spell our doomsday.