If Mar Roxas is endorsed, Drilon's bid for VP will die

"The greatest risk is really to take no risk at all. You've got to go out there, jump off the cliff, and take chances." Patrick Warburton

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Senate President Franklin Drilon was right when he quipped that rumors he would be running for vice president once DILG chief Mar Roxas was endorsed by President Noynoy Aquino as Liberal Party standard bearer in the 2016 elections, "don't make any political sense."
Since they both belong in Western Visayas, only one of them should be fielded in the race for the land's top two highest positions.
Western Visayas, the third vote rich region in the country, is not the Philippines. Imperial Manila won't take it sitting down if bypassed in the choice of national leaders.
The other candidate must come either from Luzon or Mindanao. 
Not all-Visayas. Not all-Luzon. Not all-Mindanao. 
The goods must be distributed equally. Everyone should be happy.
Survey topnotcher Grace Poe could be the most logical choice since she is extremely popular in Mindanao, where his late foster father, Fernando Poe Jr.,  was considered a demigod both in showbiz and politics. 

OFFICIAL

It won't hurt the ruling party though if the president will pick Drilon over Roxas, but it looks like the die has been cast and Roxas appears to be a cinch away from clinching the official coronation as LP top bet.
Drilon can deliver the votes for national candidates being the most senior and influential political leader in Panay and Negros islands.
Drilon's only hope though is for the president to raise Poe's hand as a Solomic solution to the impasse.  
But his chances for a vice presidential slot remain nil. If Poe would be blessed by the fountain, Roxas logically could end up as her runningmate. 
Although he lagged behind in the surveys, Roxas' stock is expected to boost once he is officially endorsed by the president.
Since President Aquino is still enjoying a substantial popularity among members of the hoi polloi, the middle class and the elite, his endorsement of Roxas can't be considered yet as a kiss of death.
Endorsement by a popular leader, however, is very much different from the candidate's winnability.

APPLAUD

People may applaud the president's endorsement, but it's another story if they will vote for the endorsed candidate.
Winnability is still a major factor. And Roxas appears to be deficient in charisma and acceptability needed to bag the highest office,  if we based only the surveys.
But with full support from the administration, the ballgame might tilt and shake a bit.  
The lead in the surveys enjoyed by Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay might suffer a major cut once government resources start to roll down the far flung areas in aid of the chosen candidate from Capiz.
Roxas, however, can't rely heavily on government wherewithal. He has a lot of catching up to do and the major roadwork is in his province in Capiz, his bailiwick with a polarized political landscape. 
As a dark horse, Davao City Mayor Rudy Duterte may continue to post as a big threat to any candidate chosen by the president and the opposition.
If no alliances and bandwagon will be formed to reduce the number of presidentiables, it would still be the administration and opposition candidates who will slug it out and elbow each other in the finish line.

Miriam in 1992; Drilon in 2016?

“The people who cast the votes don’t decide the election, the people who count the votes do.” JOSEPH STALIN

By Alex P. Vidal

ILONGGOS will always go for their own daughter or son in any presidential race.

They have shown their unity and determination to elect their very own in 1992 when they nearly sent Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago to Malacanang had it not been for the sudden blackout during the canvassing of votes.

Defensor-Santiago in 1992.

Drilon in 2016?

Was the recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) which showed Senate President Franklin Drilon enjoying a 65 percent satisfaction rating deliberately released in the media in order to prop up his chances to be nominated as presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party in 2016?

The survey started to make rounds in the media at the time when Mar Roxas was rumored to be on the way out as DILG secretary and was being pummeled in the presidential surveys.

Roxas is still being preferred by Malacanang as the LP presidential standard bearer despite his disappointing showing in poll surveys.

THIRD

The son of Capiz was already dislodged from third spot by Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the PDP-Laban.

Several days before the SWS survey came out showing Vice President Jejomar Binay on top, Drilon spin doctors have been drumbeating his “winnability” factor if ever he decides to throw his hat into the presidential race. 

“I know that there is no better and apt way to show to the Filipino people that I value and deserve their trust, than by working even harder, and fulfilling my duties to the Senate with great zeal,” Drilon announced after learning that his satisfaction rating actually rose by four percent since the last survey was conducted in December 2014.

Drilon, however, has not made any categorical statement that he was interested to run for president.  

Pulse Asia survey also showed he enjoyed a 49 percent approval rating, two percent higher than last year’s survey.

NOMINATION

Political parties sometimes base their nomination of certain candidates for higher offices in the surveys of reputed firms like Pulse Asia and SWS.

Between Roxas and Drilon, Ilonggos in Iloilo and Negros prefer the senate president.

Roxas, whose family has been in power for several decades now, hasn’t done to Roxas City or Capiz province what Drilon has done in a short period in Iloilo City.

Some two billion pesos worth of infrastructure projects have been poured in Iloilo City using Drilon’s pork barrel funds and other agencies. 
All these were implemented under the administration of a relative, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Iloilo City has experienced a renaissance in tourism and infrastructure since Drilon and Mabilog worked together like father and son.

While Roxas can’t unite the fragmented political leaders in Roxas City and Capiz, Drilon was able to cement a reputation among local leaders as political demigod.

GRUMBLE

Some people in Capiz grumble that Roxas hasn’t brought economic boom in the province and Roxas City only recently made it in the headlines when the first CityMall was built there and business and investment writers started to write about the city’s potentials only after young billionaire Edgar “Injap” Sia disclosed plans to invest more in his hometown.

If the LP will bump off Roxas for Drilon, supporters of Drilon will always have the surveys to parade as their justification.

No hard feelings for Roxas.

The graft charges filed against Drilon in relation to his alleged misuse of pork barrel will have to take a back seat once the Palace starts to discuss seriously about Drilon’s next political moves.

But it appears that no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III himself is hell-bent to endorse Roxas as LP standard bearer.

Will the surveys help change the president’s mind?

After all, only fools don’t change their minds, as the saying goes.

Drilon's worry with Diversion Road 'eyesores'

“A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.” JOHN LUBBOCK

By Alex P. Vidal

SENATE President Franklin Drilon called the drinking establishments and talaba (oyster) stalls along the Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Sr. Avenue or Diversion Road as “eyesores” and wanted them removed from the widened areas.

Before the highway was rehabilitated and widened, it served as the enclave of videoke bars and talaba stalls for many years.

Drinking establishments mushroomed all the way from Brgy. San Rafael, Mandurriao district to Brgy. El 98, Jaro district since the incumbency of Iloilo City Mayor Mansueto Malabor in the 90's.

With the newly-refurbished Diversion Road, financed mostly by Drilon’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds or “pork barrel”, those establishments disappeared from the map one by one.

Either they were demolished to pave the way for the project, or were forced to transfer during the road-widening.

REPLACED

Their locations have been replaced by spacious sidewalks and lampposts.

Which made us think which drinking establishments Drilon was referring to?

There are remnants of small talabahan in the back or within the parameters of the highway, but they can’t attract the sight of motorists who are, in fact, mostly impressed by the highway’s modern lay-out.

There are several restaurants, 24-hour mini-marts and hotels along the highway that serve beer and liquor to customers.

But they can’t be considered as “eyesores” because drinks are served inside the bars or premises of these establishments and restaurants.

And their existence is part of the “night life” in that area.

Without those establishments, there is no “night life” and warm bodies of people going to and fro the bars, hotels and restaurants in the vicinity.

If partygoers and tourists will shy away, businesses in this area will die a natural death.

We understand the concerns of Drilon, whose efforts to bring development and beautification in the metropolis became full swing and was fast-tracked under the administration of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

PRIVATE

By eyesores he probably meant private establishments “squatting” or “encroaching” on government property which were not immediately addressed.

Since massive works and development are still ongoing in the Diversion Road, it’s too early to segregate the businesses.

As more companies, restaurants, hotels and shopping malls construct buildings in the area, more problems are expected to surface in the long run.

It ain’t over yet until the fat lady sings, as the saying goes.

It’s good that Drilon brought the matter to the attention of city hall, which has an agency tasked to handle the matter.

Even if he is the third highest official of the land and a project donor (through government funds) to boot, Drilon cannot dictate to city hall on what to do with those “eyesores” or whatever they are.

It’s the job of the city mayor.

But Drilon can always suggest; and his suggestions always have the weight, he being the most influential and powerful Ilonggo leader in the national government today.  

How can Mejorada shelve persona non grata label

“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.” Paul Tillich

By Alex P. Vidal

DEBATES are ongoing whether it is proper to declare Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada, a private person, as persona non grata (unacceptable person) even if he is not a diplomat.

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and some city councilors think they won’t sound ridiculous if they push through with the plan as they cited several cases involving actors, actresses and other personalities in other cities and provinces in the country not connected with government but were also declared persona non grata for offending the local officials and the people.

City officials are up in arms against the former Iloilo provincial administrator for calling Iloilo “a bird’s nest of corruption” during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing for the alleged overpriced P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) project in Iloilo City November 13.

They want Mejorada to pay dearly for the “humiliation” he has brought the Ilonggos.

DIPLOMATS

But some lawyers, including Mejorada, insist only disgraced diplomats are declared persona non grata by their host countries before they are expelled.

Mabilog and the city council proponents think otherwise, thus they plan to slap Mejorada with the draconian measure in a resolution soon.

Even if they won’t use the words persona non grata, the city officials can always express their displeasure toward Mejorada in other means.

Like a simple resolution detailing why they don’t want to see the face of Mejorada in Iloilo City again.

They should take the cue from the Iloilo business leaders, who signed a strongly-worded manifesto of support for Senate President Franklin Drilon days before the hearing in the Senate blue ribbon committee last week.

The manifesto was read in the tri-media, including the social media and message sent.

What will happen to an individual—diplomat or not-who is declared persona non grata? 

Or severely reprimanded in a city council resolution?

Will the label deny him of his rights to open a legitimate business in the place where he was pilloried?

TAG

Will the tag disqualify him from participating in the electoral processes in the place where he was given the severe dressing down?

Will the resolution affect his economic well-being and future employment opportunities both in the government and private sectors?

Better still, will the move of the city council affect Mejorada politically if he has plans to run for public office in the future?

In terms of name-recall, Mejorada now has the edge given the gargantuan publicity mileage he amassed in the nationally televised “live” senate inquiry which became a national topic for a while.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Plus the social media which gave Mejorada the boundless leverage to lash back at his adversaries and disseminate further his case against Drilon, et al in the wider scale even after the first session of the senate hearing (we understand there are more scheduled hearings to come unless terminated).

Mejorada can only shelve the persona non grata resolution and vindicate himself if he runs and wins in the 2016 elections.

If he has secured a mandate, that means the people are not anymore angry with him, or have forgiven him for whatever transgression they think he has committed.

That means he is not really unacceptable as what his city hall tormentors want to tell the public.

Shall we stop trusting Wikipedia?

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”Albert Einstein

By Alex P. Vidal

IF tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez were to be believed, media should stop relying on Wikipedia as a source for any investigative journalism.

As media researchers and deadline writers, we go to Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia and written collaboratively by those who use it, for quick references from time to time.

Wikipedia is designed as a special type of website to make collaboration easy and called a wiki.

Since many people from all over the world are constantly improving Wikipedia, thousands of changes are made every hour.

Thus data change from time to time and not permanent; therefore, unreliable.

Former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada admitted before the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing November 13 that he used Wikipedia as one of his sources in the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) project in Iloilo City.

Mejorada claimed the amount of the project rose from P450 million to P700 million.

SPEECH

Senate President Franklin Drilon, according to Mejorada, even mentioned that the project is worth P1 billion in his speech in the opening of the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City in January this year.

When pressed by the panel that included committee chair Teopisto Guingona III and fellow senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Nancy Binay to show documents as evidence that the ICC is overpriced, Mejorada said he based his findings from published reports, Wikipedia, whispers from experts who requested anonymity, among other sources.

Jimenez chided Mejorada not to use Wikipedia in formal discussions like the senate inquiry.

Jimenez warned that the problem with relying on Wikipedia is that if 100 people read in the Wikipedia that the apple is square, the same number of people will believe that the apple is really square.

Senator Serge Osmena agreed with Jimenez saying Wikipedia is not like the Britannica Encyclopedia which is more reliable.

Binay said accusers of her father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, had also invoked Wikipedia when they alleged that there was overpricing in the construction of the Makati city hall parking building.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson exhorted investigative journalists to ask them first so his office can provide the information needed in the investigation. 

Short in saying that the information he can give is more reliable than what the Wikipedia can offer.

PROJECT

According to Wikipedia, the Iloilo Convention Center is a P450-million project in the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, Philippines which is expected in to be completed in 2014.

“It will be built on a 1.7-hectare of lot in the district of Mandurriao donated by the Megaworld Corp.

“The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority will allocate P200 million for the construction of the convention center, while another P250 million will be sourced from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Senator Franklin Drilon.

“The state-of-the-art convention center designed by architect William Coscoluella will be constructed based on a design inspired by Iloilo’s Dinagyang and Paraw festivals. It will be a two-storey structure with a total floor area of 6,400 square meters.

“The main hall on the ground floor will have a 3,700-seat capacity and 500-seat function rooms on the second floor.”

Drilon, meanwhile, did not actually inhibit himself in the hearing as what he had announced earlier.

He appeared pissed off while answering questions from Binay and Osmena.

REQUEST

Drilon admitted he was the one who requested for funds of the project, partly funded by his Disbursement Allocation Program (DAP) share.

He disclosed a "just in" information that the Megaworld will release the complete papers for the deed of donation before the year ends.

Mejorada, who filed plunder and graft raps against Drilon, Jimenez, Singson and other DPWH officials alleging that “they conspired” to overprice the ICC project, insisted there were violations in the bidding processes, among other building procedures.

Mejorada, Liberal Party Iloilo provincial campaign manager in the 2013 elections, was assisted by lawyer Eduardo Jalbuna.

Beware of Miriam in ICC senate hearing

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin

By Alex P. Vidal

NOW that Senator Teopisto Guingona III has set the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the alleged overpriced Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) project on November 17, the occasion will serve as a moment of truth for both the accused Senate President Franklin Drilon, et al and their accuser, Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada.

Although the merits of the serious charges Mejorada thrown at Drilon, et al will be tackled in the formal investigation to be initiated by the Office of the Ombudsman, the senate committee hearing is always considered by the public as the primordial barometer to spot the vagabonds, the tearjerkers, and the ninny lobcocks.

Like in the other high profile senate investigations, we expect hearing proponent, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, to again grab public attention and bring those invited to appear in the hearing in the edge of their seats.

It was Santiago who sponsored a resolution calling for the inquiry after Mejorada’s well-publicized filing of plunder and graft raps against Drilon,  Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and other Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials in relation to the P700-million project in Iloilo City.

INHIBIT

Now that Drilon has announced he was willing to inhibit himself, we expect him to skip the hearing and monitor the event on TV somewhere else.

Of course, people would love to see Drilon’s presence so he can dispute the allegations leveled against him by his former Twitter accountant handler and media consultant for Iloilo.

But based on all indications this early, it looks like the senate inquiry will unravel without the presence of the senate president.

Mejorada, the most excited person in the entire imbroglio, has expressed willingness to appear in the hearing even before Guingona announced the November 17 date.

Mejorada’s face to face encounter with the fire-spewing Santiago, a fellow Iloilo resident, is now inevitable, barring unforeseen circumstances.

As she is wont to do, Santiago, 69, a former trial court judge, usually starts her spiel with a fierce lecture, or a cross-examination-like juggernaut that usually leaves the invited guests immobile, confused and flabbergasted, especially if they are imbeciles and intellectually inept.

There is a popular saying in the gallery that if there are rats inside your stomach and you can easily be intimidated by a staccato of words and high tones, you better stay away from the senate committee hearing lorded over by Santiago.

GUEST

To an ordinary invited guest, Santiago always sounds intimidating even if she asks the most basic questions such as “can you state your complete name and other personal circumstances?” and “Why you are here and what is your role in this committee investigation?”

Mejorada should not expect a joy ride once Santiago starts to open her laser-laced mouth during the hearing.

It’s always better to be prepared ahead of time than to be zapped with shockwaves of unexpected questions that will catch a person flat-footed.

He should anticipate harsh and even gruesome questions especially about his background as a media practitioner and as a government official.

Mejorada’s past and present links with politicians—winners and losers in the previous elections—are also expected to be brought up.

Battle-scarred and intrepid, Mejorada knows where he is heading to.

We all know that Santiago is deadly when it comes to marital and extra-marital affairs.

MERCILESS

She is merciless even the way she describes innocent individuals caught in between the scandals.

Her sharp tongue has tormented a lot of prominent and little-known individuals who found themselves like being thrown into the lion’s den or like being mauled black and blue by the spinach-eating Popeye after the hearing.

Look what she did to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and his concubines (plural).

Drilon’s co-accused will also suffer from emotional and intellectual discombobulation if they go to war unmanned and unprepared.

For sure, the hearing will be a battle of not only credibility, but also of documents.  

There are allegations of overprice in the ICC project, financed partly by Drilon’s Disbursement Allocation Program (DAP), and Mejorada insists he is determined and ready to prove it.

Drilon claimed there was no any anomaly in his pet project for Iloilo City.

Let’s proceed with the senate committee hearing.

Can we just stop and talk awhile?

“Maybe then we could go for a ride drive down to the countryside. Get away from the gray and frenzied hurly-burly of the city life.”  JOSE MARI CHAN

By Alex P. Vidal

THERE has been so much hatred and violence in the local, national and international news these past weeks.

Crimes, immorality, political bickering and graft and corruption have dominated the headlines and overshadowed so many positive events in the fields of foreign relations, education, arts, science and sports.

An Iloilo provincial official announcing to the world in a national event her displeasure toward her philandering husband and wishing in jest that he be injected with an anti-Ebola virus so that his womanizing days will come to a screeching halt.

A former Iloilo municipal mayor hauling her estranged husband to court for physical and verbal abuse.

A city hall consultant lambasted by his wife in the social media because of, again, womanizing.

Cain and Abel tearing each other apart publicly like real life enemies and dragging the name of the city mayor in their brutal skirmish.

INSULTS

A city mayor and his erstwhile councilor allies swapping insults in their Facebook accounts and their respective sympathizers joining the fray.

A capitol bigwig accused of enriching himself at the expense of super-typhoon Yolanda victims and hiding his loot in an island.

A tough municipal mayor accused of ordering the murder of the assailants of his son, including the assailants’ family members who wanted to rescue the victims.  

Tensions have exacerbated in the national level due to the endless muckraking of the main dramatis personae trying to malign each other in preparations for the mega political derby in 2016.

A governor apologizing not to his wife but to his younger mistress for the leaked sex photos and video that have caused a tidal wave of humiliation among their respective households before the national media.

A transvestite murdered by an American sailor for not revealing his/her true sexual preference.

Cops accused of "hulidap" and molesting women lawbreakers under their custody.

EBOLA

Filipino peacekeepers coming home from Ebola-hit Liberia treated like Ebola patients and driven away to a secluded Luzon municipality for quarantine as their superior officers and town officials squabble.

Even the social media is not spared from man’s hateful fulminations.

The rift between Senate President Frank Drilon and his former media consultant for Iloilo, Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada, has escalated in the national level when Mejorada filed plunder and graft raps against his former boss before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Drilon’s Iloilo sympathizers have banded together and impeached Mejorada’s integrity as a retaliatory act.

There is now a smorgasbord of name-calling, insults, character assassination and even physical threats.

The war has deepened and emotions are at fever-pitch.

Meanwhile, Mejorada continued to fire his artillery in the national media hopping from one TV and radio station to another in a bid to cripple Drilon in the bar of public opinion.

Tension exacerbates each time followers of both parties engage in unnecessary word war and heated debates in the media programs and coffee shops.  

Why don’t they take a break first, stay calm and sober, stop and talk awhile?

Killing Boy Mejorada will complicate matters

“Murder’s out of tune,

And sweet revenge grows harsh.”

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Othello

By Alex P. Vidal

WHILE walking inside the La Paz Public Market in La Paz district, Iloilo City last Monday night, I overheard in a loud radio set inside a billiards hall former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel “Boy M” Mejorada while being interviewed by Aksyon Radyo anchorman Joecel Banas.

Mejorada said he was ready to appear in the Senate blue ribbon committee that will investigate the alleged overpriced construction of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC).

Mejorada has filed plunder and graft complaints against Senate President Franklin Drilon, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson and six other government officials and private individuals in relation to the P700-million project before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Although Drilon, who hails from Molo district, Iloilo City, has expressed willingness to inhibit himself in the soon-to-be announced committee hearing prompted by a resolution filed by fellow Ilonggo Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Mejorada said he prefers to see Drilon in the senate hearing “so we can discuss the issue face to face.”

INSIST

Mejorada insisted there was overprice in the mega project and respondent Drilon must be held accountable for the alleged loss of P488 million from the coffers of the government.

Drilon has denied the allegations of his former Twitter handler and media consultant for Iloilo.

When Banas asked Mejorada if he has received threats in his life considering that he stirred the hornet’s nest involving big names in Philippine politics, Mejorada, who first served as executive assistant of former Iloilo Governor Neil D. Tupas before being promoted as provincial administrator in 2006, quipped: “Ila man ina grupo a (It’s also their own group).”

Mejorada said “God will protect me” if indeed He believes in Mejorada’s crusade against graft and corruption.

During the 2013 local elections when he campaigned against Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Mejorada claimed that certain characters, some of them members of drug syndicates, wanted to kill him.

Some of those who allegedly wanted him dead aired their threats via the social media and even showed the weapon they intended to use against Mejorada.

DRUG LORD

He identified an alleged drug lord in Brgy. Muelle Loney, City Proper as one of those who are itching to shoot him if their paths will cross.  

Mejorada walked with a bodyguard most of the time until after Mabilog was reelected overwhelmingly.

If Mejorada was saying that the persons allegedly interested to kill him belong to “the same group”, was he insinuating that some of those included in the plunder and graft raps were allies of the drug lords who wanted him dead during the heat of the 2013 local elections?

We are concerned that some of Mejorada’s enemies might take advantage of his rift with Drilon, et al and harm him (God forbid) while he is in the thick of battle against the respondents of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) brouhaha.

When so many people want to eliminate a certain individual, chances are his most recent enemies will be blamed.

FIGURE

We know that Drilon, a national figure and a potential presidential aspirant, is not a violent person.

We can’t speak the same for other characters caught in the web of the imbroglio and those sympathetic to the senate big man.

Now that the issue has exploded into horrific proportions and is now known worldwide, killing or attempting to kill Mejorada at this time will only complicate matters.

Feud between Drilon, Mejorada deepens

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."

Alexander Hamilton

By Alex P. Vidal

The bridge has been burned.

Now that the recent graft and plunder charges filed by former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada against Senate President Franklin Drilon, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and other Department of Public Works and Highways officials have caught headlines nationwide, the feud between erstwhile friends Drilon and Mejorada is expected to escalate.

Mejorada filed the charges before the Office of the Ombudsman Wednesday in connection with the allegedly overpriced construction of the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) in Iloilo City.

Both Drilon and Mejorada have been swapping criminal charges these past months.

Mejorada, Drilon’s former Twitter account handler, had earlier sued Drilon, et al for alleged overpriced of improvement project of the Promenade in Iloilo City implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Drilon fired back by filing a libel case against his former media consultant in Iloilo after Mejorada exposed the alleged ICC overpriced in his blog.

MALVERSATION

Mejorada also filed charges of malversation of public funds, violation of procurement law, anti-graft and corrupt practices act and dishonesty and grave misconduct against the Ilonggo senate president and other officials.

Mejorada’s charges stemmed from the allegedly overpriced ICC, Drilon’s purported P700-million pet project being carried out by Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., the contractor of the allegedly overpriced Makati parking building.

Mejorada insisted Drilon was behind the allegedly overpriced convention center. He was quoted in an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990AM as saying

“Siya po ang namuno nito. Siya ang nag conceive nito at siya po ang lumakad para sa project” (He led this project. He conceived this, and he arranged this project.)

“Mayroon akong matibay na dokumento kung paano nilitson o nilutong Macau ang bidding ng Iloilo Convention ni Drilon,” Mejorada disclosed adding that he has documents to prove that the supposed public bidding was rigged.

(I have strong evidence as to how Drilon rigged the bidding for the Iloilo Convention Center.)

The senate president, who hails from Molo, Iloilo City, allegedly set aside P200 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), P200 million from the Department of Tourism and P100 million from Malacañang’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), parts of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Mejorada claimed that an additional of P200 million was also funded by DAP.

COST

The cost of the construction ballooned from P192 million to P488 million, added Mejorada, a former president of the Iloilo Press Club.

The project was supposed to be concluded by March 2015, it was reported.

Aside from Drilon, Jimenez and Singson, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority board director Mark Lapid, Public Work Undersecretaries Jaime Pacanan and Romeo Momo, DPWH Regional Director Edilberto Tayao, DPWH Iloilo Engr. Marilyn Celiz, W.V Coscolluela and Associates and Hillmarcs Construction Corp. also face charges.

Even if former Iloilo Governor Neil D. Tupas will interfere between Drilon and Mejorada, it appears they have severed their friendship.

It was Tupas who bridged the friendship between Drilon and Mejorada.

No ‘movement’ for cold Frank Drilon

“Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” Mao Zedong

By Alex P. Vidal

THE LAUNCHING of several “for president movement” slogans in and outside the social media has become a fad among political organizers from various regions nowadays.

The Ilocanos have launched the “Bongbong Marcos for President Movement”; “Jojo Binay for President Movement” for the people of Makati; “Rudy Duterte for President Movement” from Davao; and “Mar Roxas for President Movement” for the people of Capiz, and so on and so forth.

But we have yet to hear the Ilonggos mount the “Frank Drilon for President Movement” battle cry.

Some remnants of the People’s Reform Party (PRP), however, have started to inch their way to various universities and colleges and re-echo the “Miriam Defensor-Santiago for President Movement”.

Defensor-Santiago and Drilon are two of the most battle-scarred and prominent politicians from Iloilo touted by experts as “presidentiables” or potential candidates for the highest office of the country.

Only Drilon, however, does not have a known “movement” or group of supporters pushing for his presidential candidacy in 2016.

MYSTERIOUS

We remember a mysterious “movement” that emerged several years ago when Drilon was still the labor secretary and subsequently the justice secretary under the Cory government.

This was the “Movement Against Drilon” or MAD.

Whatever its objective, how it all started and who were its organizers, it failed to derail the senate big man’s meteoric political rise.

Drilon is supposed to be the most senior among politicians queuing for the presidency.

The senate president is supposed to be among the closest to President Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III.

Long before DILG boss Mar Roxas earned President Noynoy’s trust and confidence, Drilon was already working with the Aquino clan during the post-EDSA Revolution.

On July 28, 2005, Drilon’s fellow “Hyatt 10” mutineers were already prepared to hand him the vice presidency on a silver platter and install then Vice President Noli De Castro as president.

This was when they called for then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation in the heels of the “Hello Garci” scandal.

Drilon has served as cabinet official for five presidents in a row, and must have also been salivating for the presidency ahead of Roxas and Binay.

Only Drilon himself can confirm if he is really interested to run for president or vice president.

INTEREST

Ideally, the interest to run should come first from Drilon himself, not from any “movement”, in the event there is one.

But Drilon has been incoherently passive.

Even his body movements are formless in as far as the presidential derby is concerned.

Although both Marcos and Duterte have not yet confirmed they were interested to eye the presidency in 2016, their respective ”movements” have already started juxtaposing and combing the entire archipelago at fever-pitch these past months.

The Ilonggo votes are a force to reckon with in the national elections.

We are the third biggest voting population next to Luzon and Cebu.

There is an age-old political wisdom that says if you want to win a national office–for president, vice president and senator—you must win first in Western Visayas.

With all the support of political bigwigs in Western Visayas allied with the ruling Liberal Party, we are puzzled why until now no “movement” has snowballed to endorse Drilon’s bid in 2016.

If he is not really interested to run, no “movement” is necessary to push him.

Politics is not a game of coercion.

We can bring the horse to the river, but we can't force it to drink.

'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.”

Why Drilon should accept Syjuco’s challenge to a debate

“A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.” Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

If we were Senate President Franklin Drilon, we would accept the challenge of former Tesda director general Augusto “Buboy” Syjuco to a debate.

The debate with Syjuco would be a perfect venue for the Ilonggo senate president to prove his critics wrong about so many issues that have bedeviled him these past months.

This would give Drilon the chance to disabuse the minds of the Doubting Thomases that he and his selected minions benefited from the P479-million Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) project in Iloilo City.

The debate would be a perfect opportunity for Drilon to dispel or refute allegations that he misappropriated his multi-million pesos Disbursement Allocation Program (DAP) or pork barrel share.

Since it appears that nobody in the senate today has the guts to engage him in a debate over so many controversial issues, Drilon should accept Syjuco’s dare.

But immediately after Syjuco made the challenge last September 16, Drilon rejected it.

He called Syjuco a "discredited" politician.

The senate big man said he is willing to face Syjuco in a debate if the latter is already a senator.

But Syjuco is very much qualified to debate with the third highest official of the country.

Aside from being a former congressman for three terms, Syjuco was a member of the 1973 Constitutional Assembly where he was the constitution principal author and sponsor of accountability of public officers, Sandiganbayan, and Ombudsman; and the law on dual citizenship and absentee voting.

CHALLENGE

Syjuco’s challenge went this way: “Drilon, be a man. Kakasa ka ba, or kakaba-kaba?

“Mr. Drilon: ‘I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I am for justice, no matter who its for

or against.’ – Malcom X

“Some time ago, I challenged you to a public debate. You merely made excuses and crawled away.

“For the second (2nd) time now, I am again challenging you to a public debate, in Plaza Miranda. Let us together, you and I, bring back the revered tradition of taking public issues to our people, in Plaza Miranda.

1. Choose your date & time.

2. You and I will share the physical costs of the debate.

3. My subjects are your Iloilo Convention Center pet project, and other projects you have overpriced.

4. You can choose your own subject(s) to hurl at me.

“Take this now my 2nd challenge. Running away shows you to be guilty. Be a man. Clear your name and reputation.

“Show us all that you are right, and that I am wrong. Let our people decide.”

If Drilon has nothing to hide and if he believes that he can prove his critics wrong, why not accept the challenge?

-o0o-

Anomalous appointment.

This was how Ilonggo lawyer-philosopher Ernesto Justiniani Dayot viewed the recent appointment by President Benigno S. Aquino III of fellow Ilonggo lawyer Francis Jardeleza to the Supreme Court.

While he was also proud and happy that another Ilonggo jurist has made it to the higher court, Dayot, 81, said Jardeleza virtually became a tuta (puppy) of the president because of his being a former solicitor general.

“A solicitor general works under the president,” Dayot pointed out. “There would have been no controversy if Jardeleza came all the way from the lower courts or in other agencies not directly under the president. It’s pure and simple delicadeza.”

MESSAGE

Dayot said Mr. Aquino wanted to send a curt message to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno who did not support him in the DAP or pork barrel tumult.

As for Sereno, who was accused by Associate Justice Arturo Brion of manipulating the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to make sure that Jardeleza would not make it to the shortlist of the nominees, she should not only resign as suggested by many legal luminaries in the country, he said.

“She should be impeached,” stressed Dayot of Dingle, Iloilo.