Timing of my article about Loreto-Garin bad

“People talk about perfect timing, but I think everything is perfect in its moment; you just want to capture that.”  Eddie Huang

By Alex P. Vidal

THE timing of my article entitled, “Did Loreto-Garin inherit top post of graft-ridden DOH?” last November 12 where I mentioned that “acting Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin remains to be one of the only few DOH bigwigs with immaculate record”, was bad.

The word “immaculate” broke the back of the camel.

On the day the story was published in Western Visayas, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) reported on its front page that Loreto-Garin, 42, was also being investigated for her alleged involvement in the anomalous use of millions of pesos in funds of the defunct National Agri-Business Corp.(Nabcor).

“So far, Loreto-Garin has been doing a fine job as acting secretary for almost three weeks now. We hope she maintains this reputation now that her fellow DOH officials appear to be heading to the Hall of Shame,” I wrote in that article which also came out in my blog (http://alexpvidal.blogspot.com/2014/11/did-loreto-garin-inherit-top-post-of.html).

Her alleged involvement in the scam actually happened when she was still a member of the House of Representatives representing the first district of Iloilo, not during her stint as DOH undersecretary.

Loreto-Garin was implicated last March by former Nabcor officials Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Cacal as among the lawmakers who allegedly benefited from the Nabcor funds intended to be used for “technical studies” for rice harvest improvement but ended up in the politicians’ campaign kitties instead.

PORK

Loreto-Garin immediately denied receiving pork barrel funds and vowed to resign from the DOH should authorities prove her participation in the anomalous transaction.

She dismissed the allegations as “baseless and malicious.”

Garin’s legislative district also cropped up as among the areas that benefited from the “fertilizer fund scam,” which involved the diversion of about P728 million to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign fund during the 2004 election period.

The timing of the report on Loreto-Garin’s alleged involvement in Nabcor funds anomaly was also suspect.

It rolled off the press two weeks after she was installed as acting DOH secretary when “sick” Secretary Enrique Ona went on leave last October 29.

The story was also played up in the national media several days after it was reported that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been investigating since June the DOH's purchase of expensive vaccines in 2012 despite a recommendation to buy more cost-effective ones.

Known as the “DOH vaccine mess”, it implicated Ona and Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag.

The deal was reportedly “contrary to the recommendation of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management (NCPAM), the Formulary Executive Council (FEC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which recommended PCV 13 which is said to be more cost-effective.”

INSIDERS

Did some DOH insiders orchestrate the release of the story about Loreto-Garin’s alleged involvement in the Nabcor funds anomaly to divert public attention on the mess Ona and Tayag were in?

Was it intended to derail Loreto-Garin’s possible appointment as full-fledged DOH secretary just in case Ona could not anymore regain his post?

Loreto-Garin herself smelled fish with the timing of the disclosure of the Nabcor funds mess investigation even as she denied allegations her appointment in the DOH was politically motivated.

“These past few days, there were insinuations that my designation as acting secretary is all about politics. I call on Secretary Ona and Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa to refute this. They know the truth. I admit, I was a politician but does that prevent me from serving our country? I am not perfect but I was able to do a lot of good things when I was a congresswoman,” she said.

Without the Nabcor funds ruckus, my November 12 article would have been prophetic: Loreto-Garin to remain as the only DOH bigwig untarnished by issue of graft and corruption.

Now that the hornet’s nest has been stirred, both Ona, Tayag and Loreto-Garin are on the same dilemma.

They are all now facing investigation for alleged anomalies.

Until their guilt has been established, it’s too premature to call them as members of the DOH’s "Hall of Shame."

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.

Why Boboy, Judy, et al are not yet in jail?

“If you can manipulate news, a judge can manipulate the law. A smart lawyer can keep a killer out of jail, a smart accountant can keep a thief from paying taxes, a smart reporter could ruin your reputation-unfairly.”

Mario Cuomo

By Alex P. Vidal

They are all facing graft raps before the Office of the Ombudsman, but why is it that some of the accused are now in jail—“with no bail recommended”—while the others remain “scot-free” after being allowed to post a bail bond, which is usually peanuts compared to the stolen amount.

Some of us may ask, “Aren’t they all crooks?”

Former Iloilo second district congressman and ex-TESDA chief Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco and wife, former Iloilo second district Rep. Judy, and several others were each allowed to post a P30,000 bail bond after being charged with embezzling government funds in connection with the P20-million TESDA unauthorized project, thus they did not automatically join senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla in jail.

The Syjuco husband and wife, et al are facing graft and corruption charges while the jailed senators are accused of plunder.

The Office of the Ombudsman accused Mrs. Judy Syjuco of using P20 million of her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations—commonly known as pork barrel—on an unauthorized project implemented by TESDA headed then by her husband, Boboy, during the Arroyo administration.

INJURY

The prosecutors claimed the project has “caused undue injury” to TESDA's supposed beneficiaries and bound the government in a grossly disadvantageous contract.

“They should be in jail now that the Ombudsman has filed the graft case in the Sandiganbayan like Jinggoy, Bong, et al,” some people may insist. They may add: “Is the anti-graft and corrupt practices law double standard?”   

It pays to always look at both sides of the coin. Before we criticize something let’s make sure we understand what it is all about and why it is there.

If we don’t look deeper into the wisdom of those behind the passage of Republic Act No. 7080 or “An Act Defining And Penalizing The Crime of Plunder”, we will suspect that the law was passed so that small fries—thieves in government who steal a lesser amount—would be protected from landing behind bars as soon as a prima facie evidence has been established by the Office of the Ombudsman against them.

We are referring the plunder law’s Sec. 2 on the Definition of the Crime of Plunder; Penalties, which states that “Any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons, amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts as described in Section 1 (d) hereof in the aggregate amount or total value of at least Fifty million pesos (P50,000,000.00) shall be guilty of the crime of plunder and shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death.

PARTICIPATE

“Any person who participated with the said public officer in the commission of an offense contributing to the crime of plunder shall likewise be punished for such offense. 

“In the imposition of penalties, the degree of participation and the attendance of mitigating and extenuating circumstances, as provided by the Revised Penal Code, shall be considered by the court. 

“The court shall declare any and all ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other incomes and assets including the properties and shares of stocks derived from the deposit or investment thereof forfeited in favor of the State.”

It’s clear that the reason why the Syjuco couple was allowed to post bail was because the amount involved in the unauthorized project was less than P50 million. It's not plunder.

Jinggoy, Bong, et al are now languishing in jail because they allegedly stole hundreds of millions of pesos of people’s money via kickbacks from bogus non-government organizations created by Janet Lim-Napoles. It's plunder.

REALIZE

Authors of the plunder law must have realized that the law could be used by a despotic president to persecute his political enemies or a leverage to ferret out political and even business favors if the cap for the amount involved in a plunder law is below P50 million.

If a government official is charged with graft and corruption for pocketing at least P1 million in tax payers’ money and the law does not recommend a bail for his temporary freedom, we can’t imagine what will happen to the opposition if the administration lowers the broom and intends to wipe them out.

Any vindictive President can use the law at his disposal to harass, intimidate and persecute political dissidents.

He can score a massacre by using the Office of the Ombudsman as a tool to indiscriminately haul to court any political enemy who makes a mistake of being caught dipping his fingers in the cookie jar. This could be the reason why in a plunder case, the accused must have at least pocketed P50 million in order to spend his time in jail while his case is under trial.

The R.A. 7080, in a nutshell, protects the “political enemies” of the state.

Now we understand.

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.

Mario, Glenda, Benigno

“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” John F. Kennedy

By Alex P. Vidal

During moments of euphoria, sadness, tragedy, defeat and victory, we remember not only events but names.

We remember three names that are currently synonymous to heroism, destruction and stubbornness: Mario, Glenda, and Benigno.

Mario is now the toast of the soccer community when he sank that lone goal for Germany’s fourth FIFA World Cup in the recent championship match against Argentina at the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last July 14.

Because of that come-from-behind date with fame in Rio, a mere mention of Mario Gotze’s name evokes sweet moments of heroism and victory.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup produced not only a soccer hero, but also a new inspiration for Filipinos pinning their football hopes only on the overfed and over fancied Azkals XI, a team not even rated among the top 100 in the world and can never represent the Philippines in the next FIFA World Cup in 2018.
If he were a Filipino, Mario would be a shoo-in for senator under the pork barrel’s Liberal Party.

Filipinos love sports superstars like they love their childhood super heroes. And they won’t hesitate to elect them into public office like what they did to former senators Ambrosio Padilla, Freddie Webb, and Robert Jaworski. Two years from now, a boxing champion will also be called as “Senator Manny Pacquiao.”

Glenda, the name of a mysterious college student who borrowed from me P3,000 cash and disappeared like a comet several years ago, is now remembered as a storm that terrorized Luzon last July 15 and 16.

RAMPAGE

Glenda’s murderous rampage left scores of deaths and sent some 200,000 families packing to evacuation centers.

Glenda lashed at Metro Manila and flooded the main highways and avenues. She brought only monsoon rains in Iloilo, but most parts of the region were also affected in one way or the other.

Hell hath no fury like a typhoon named after a woman. Glenda came, saw and conquered.

Like Yolanda, Glenda represented sadness, mayhem and death. Weather forecasters coined the names of incoming typhoons based on alphabetical order, so let’s not feel bad if Glenda happens to be the name of our mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, or debtor. 

Benigno is the leader of the 90 million Filipinos now up in arms against the “pork barrel” fund deodorized as Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The Supreme Court has declared DAP as unconstitutional and asked Benigno’s lawmaker allies who have availed of the controversial appropriations, to return the taxpayers money worth P137.3 billion to the national treasury.

But the funds are reportedly nowhere to be found now. All of a sudden, no one has come forward to defend Bengino except himself. No one has volunteered to make a gallant sacrifice for the king. When the going gets tough, it’s only Benigno now by his lonesome self defending the port in the attic.

Lawmakers and their local government partners claimed they spent the money “wisely” to finance infrastructure and public works projects in their respective cities and provinces. 

SUSPICIOUS

But people were suspicious that a bulk of the funds may have gone to the pockets of corrupt politicians allied with Benigno in the form of kickbacks via fake non-government organizations, the same trick that sent P10-billion pork barrel scam accused Janet Lim-Napoles to the calaboose.

Benigno’s popularity suffered a sharp decline since 2010 according to the recent Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys.

The negative impact on Benigno’s popularity must have something to do with his refusal to let go of Harvard-educated budget secretary Butch Abad, DAP’s chief collaborator, and for defending the DAP and engaging the Supreme Court in a power play that could provoke a constitutional crisis.

Because of this, the once supremely popular president and son of the late former President Cory and the late brave Marcos opposition leader Ninoy, has earned the reputation as a “stubborn” president.

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.

Pork verdict a World Cup goal for Filipinos

“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

While soccer fans were waiting for the coronation of either Germany, The Netherlands, Argentina, or Brazil in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Filipinos already secured their World Cup victory courtesy of the Supreme Court’s 13-1-0 goals against the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) recently.

Malacanang-backed DAP collapsed like a deck of cards and exposed this administration’s subservience to pork barrel to finance infrastructure projects and the like.

Malacanang’s embarrassment, however, became the nation’s victory. A victory sweeter than the FIFA World Cup.

Results of the Filipino People vs DAP championship dominated the major news headlines even in the Middle East, Americas, Australia, Europe where there are large Filipino communities.

Now that DAP has been declared unconstitutional and nipped in the bud, the bleeding of the national treasury will now come to a screeching halt.

STOP

The Supreme Court ruling stopped the thieves masquerading as public servants in their tracks.

But the sweetest World Cup goal came from the higher court’s order for those who have siphoned millions of DAP or pork barrel share to return the money.

The money belongs to the Filipino people and the SIN-nators and other lawmakers who feasted on DAP under this administration shouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, ordered the Supreme Court.

But while we are jubilant about our own domestic World Cup conquest, we feel sad that some of the major infrastructure projects that have started rolling down the city and province of Iloilo are among those expected to be torpedoed.

Senate President Frank Drilon’s name came out first in the list of sin-nators with large sums of DAP appropriations at P100 million as of December 2012.

PROJECTS

Drilon picked the tab from the DAP of most multimillion pesos worth of projects being implemented through the Department of Public Works and Highways and  inaugurated by no less than President Noynoy Aquino in Iloilo City last June 27.

Drilon has confirmed that DAP partly funded the almost P1-billion Iloilo Convention Center (ICC) at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district.

“Partly funded” means money has already been funneled to the gigantic structure President Aquino described as like the Sydney Opera House.  

What was shocking and repulsive, to say the least, was the revelation that some of the sin-nators who claim to be “champions” of public service and integrity like presidentiables Francis Escudero (P50 million), Allan Peter Cayetano (P50 million), Loren Legarda (P50 million), and Antonio Trillanes IV (P50 million) are also closet pork eaters.

  

Why jailbirds were more popular than Miriam, Drilon in Iloilo

“What's right isn't always popular. What's popular isn't always right.” Howard Cosell

By Alex P. Vidal

Because of their showbiz background, jailed senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada were once upon a time more popular than Senate President Frank Drilon and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago--even in Western Visayas, the bailiwick of the two Ilonggo legislators.

In 2004, during the campaign period in Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Negros, and Guimaras, shrieking fans mobbed both actors, kissed and embraced them, danced with them on stage like rock stars and cult leaders.

“Mga pare tulungan ninyo si Bong. Kailangan natin siya sa senado (Friends let’s help Bong. We need him in the senate),” outgoing senator Ramon Revilla, Sr., Bong’s father, appealed to us while he was inside a car during a political rally at the Plazoleta Gay in downtown, Iloilo City.

Even without Nardong Putik’s appeal, the Kapitan would have still won by an overwhelming margin. The bakya crowd was unstoppable and they believed only their big screen idol Bong Revilla could snatch them away from dire straits.

Most of the 253,934 voters in this city’s 180 barangays and the province’s 941,380 voters from 1,721 barangays lived in slums and far flung rural areas where screen actors and actresses are adored and idolized like kings and queens.

BACKGROUND

These are the places where voters normally don’t care about the educational background and competence of candidates for national and local offices, thus they cast their votes based on name recall and popularity.

Since many of them are hooked on telenovela, soap opera and showbiz scandals and entertainment--plus the fact that only a handful of them read the newspapers and monitor political events on TV and radio--Bong Revilla, 47, and Jinggoy Estrada, 51, who starred in hundreds of action and drama flicks, are instant hits in these areas.

If the jailbirds will run for higher offices in 2016 (granting that they will be exonerated in the plunder charges they are facing for allegedly pocketing hundreds of millions of people’s money in pork barrel scam), their lesser-known rivals could end up eating the dust, given the electorate’s myopic mentality.

In fact, Revilla (19,513,521 votes garnered) and Estrada 18,925,925 votes) topped the 2010 senatorial elections where Santiago (17,344,742 votes) and Drilon (15,871,117 votes), both prides of Iloilo City, wound up third and fourth, respectively. Juan Ponce Enrile (15,665,618 votes), the third senator expected to join Revilla and Estrada soon at Camp Crame custodial center, was fifth.

HUSBAND

Former interior and local government undersecretary Narciso Santiago, husband of the 69-year-old feisty Iloilo senator, lamented to us at the Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center that even Hollywood stars can never beat the Marcoses in Ilocos. “Ilocanos are solidly behind the Marcoses especially during the national elections,” fumed Santiago, the senator’s former classmate in the College of Law before they became husband and wife. “But here in Iloilo, they are not united. Miriam even lost (in her reelection bid for senator in 2001) because Iloilo failed to deliver the needed votes for her.”

This was when Senator Santiago was smarting from her “lowest” popularity for being a staunch defender of then scandalized and eventually ousted President and now Manila Mayor Erap Estrada.

Let’s hope sweetheart Narciso did not forget to thank the Ilonggos when they gave his beloved wife a resounding victory when she staged a comeback in 2004 and in 2010 (her term as senator expires in 2016).

Lest sweetheart Narciso forgets, the Ilonggos nearly installed honey Miriam into presidency in 1992. What most of us still remember is that the sudden power blackout during the canvassing of votes dashed all our dreams to pieces.

  

We solicit newspaper ads; are we also unethical?

We solicit newspaper ads; 
are we also unethical?

"Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."  Thomas Jefferson

By Alex P. Vidal

Even if we were not good in marketing, we have been soliciting newspaper advertisements since we began writing for a community newspaper in late 80's.
The job of employees in editorial department is different from the job of those in the newspaper's marketing department, but we were required by the publisher to solicit advertisements especially during special issues like anniversary and Christmas.
Advertisements are the life-blood of any newspaper. Without them, publishers are hard-pressed to sustain a regular payroll, much less defray the expenses for production or printing costs. For special issues like anniversary, even editors, lay-out artists and delivery boys are dispatched to look for money. Everyone must chip in; everyone must eat and bring foods on the table. 
Newspapers outside Metro Manila don't pay well because they don't really earn much revenue. Community journalists are among the lowest paid professionals in the Philippines. This was the response I made to the consul in the US Embassy who asked if I have much money after he found out that aside from being a newspaperman, I also dabbled in professional boxing as ring official where I was paid in dollars. "Community-based journalists live below the poverty level," I told the consul. "I don't even have money in the bank."

GRAY

There is a gray area in the journalists' code of ethics when members of the editorial board -- editors, staff writers and reporters -- are seen soliciting ads in private companies, offices of politicians and government establishments. The dual tasks will definitely compromise the journalist's job to write objectively. There will always be conflict of interests. A journalist's credibility will be put to acid test. 
But this has become a traditional and long-accepted practice among provincial-based journalists. Otherwise we starve. Publishers--and even some network owners--are forced to treat journalism heavily from the commercial point of view in order to survive. Many newspapers have closed shop because they could not sustain the spiraling printing costs and other related expenses. It's not a walk in the park for publishers to maintain a daily newspaper in areas with limited advertisers. When business in certain city or province is good, it doesn't guarantee that business in newspaper is also good. Many business establishments don't place advertisements in the newspapers--except if they are under fire for labor violations, among other infractions. They put advertisements only to cushion the impact of negative publicity. In other words, they are not there for keeps.

ATTENTION
   
This brought to our attention the case of Manila broadcasters Erwin Tulfo and Carmelo del Prado Magdurulang who are recently in the headlines after their names were implicated in the "pork barrel" controversy after receiving payments from the National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor), an agency under the Department of Agriculture that was used as conduit for the release of Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) money that went into ghost projects.
Tulfo claimed the transaction with Nabcor was legitimate as it was a payment for a radio blocktime advertisement. Nabcor issued him a check in the amount of P245,535 drawn from the agency’s account at United Coconut Planters’ Bank (UCPB), Tektite Branch PSE Center, Ortigas, Pasig City on March 10, 2009. 
Magdurulang known as Melo del Prado, who hosts a radio show in GMA7’s DZBB, got three checks issued dated April 27, May 14, and July 6 totaling P245,535. 
"Is it ethical for a journalist to also solicit ads?"asked Manila-based columnist Ellen Tordesillas who hails from Antique.

CONCERNED

Tordesillas wrote in her blog: "I’m more concerned about the ethical aspect of the what it seems has become a standard media practice: journalists doubling as advertising solicitors. Erwin said there’s even one broadcast practice called AOB (Air on Board) , where anchors read the press release of advertisers for a fee. He said he does not do that.
"It is a fact that advertisements are the lifeblood of media. But the advertising department is separate from the editorial department.
"Independence is a basic journalism value. For journalists to be credible and effective in their role of society’s watchdog, they have to be independent and that includes from the influence of the publication or network’s advertisers. A journalist reports something he discovered that would be of interest to and benefit the people and not because someone paid him to do it or it’s a requirement from advertisers."

Drilon loves Rene Villa like David's love for Jonathan

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same."  Elbert Hubbard 

By Alex P. Vidal

THOSE who wish that Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) chairman Rene Villa jumps off the cliff "to save from embarrassment President Noynoy Aquino and Senate President Frank Drilon" are wishing for the Halley's comet this Yuletide season.
What embarrassment they were talking about, in the first place? 
For some thick-faced government officials nowadays, the word embarrassment is a misnomer. 
If they are not embarrassed to gobble up millions of "pork barrel" funds, there is no reason to feel embarrassed only because an ilk has been linked to bogus NGO organizer and "pork barrel" mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
The top notch Ilonggo lawyer serves at the pleasure of both President Noynoy Aquino and his political padrino Drilon. 
If Villa loses Drilon's trust and confidence, there is no need for President Noynoy Aquino to give him the boot.

BLESSINGS

As long as Villa enjoys Drilon's blessings, intrigues and whispers alone can't topple Villa from his present office.
As long as Drilon is at the helm, Villa stays. If embattled Drilon survives, all his political minions also survive. They swim together and sink or float together. Without Robin, Batman is useless. Without Starsky, Hutch is inutile. Without Jonathan, David is a ninny lobcock.
Villa's talent for public service would always be noticed by the sitting President of the Republic because of Drilon's charisma to the powers that be. 
Then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not know Villa from Adam, but designated him as secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform because of Drilon's strong intercession.
Villa joined the "Hyatt 10" plotters to oust Mrs. Arroyo from presidency not because he disliked her, but because of his love for Drilon, one of the brains behind the aborted mutiny. 
Drilon could always count on Villa through thick and thin, with or without a government portfolio.  

SURVIVED

When Mrs. Aquino survived the "Hyatte 10" coup, Drilon, whose ambition to become instant vice president was dashed to pieces, perished to political oblivion. 
Without hard feelings, Villa marched with Drilon to the dugout. Wherever Drilon goes, Villa follows. He is not only a subordinate who serves his master with canine loyalty, Villa is also Drilon's most trusted subaltern. 
Drilon's love for Villa shouldn't be underestimated. 
It can be compared to David's love for Jonathan. 
We point to Jonathan and David as an example of idealized male bonding--a type of “brotherly love” not “stained” by the romantic entanglements of male-female relationships. 
Because of their professional and political bonding, it's hard to spray vitriol on Drilon and Villa. At Jonathan’s funeral, David declares that he loved Jonathan more than any woman.  
David's closeness to Jonathan is just one of several Bible passages that describe and celebrate an intense love between these two men that went well beyond friendship. So if we still think that Drilon will abandon Villa in this crucial hour, we will only defy logic.  

Bunch of hypocrites!

"Resistance on the part of people to the supreme legislative power of the state is never legitimate; it is the duty of the people to bear any abuse of the supreme power." IMMANUEL KANT

By Alex P. Vidal

THE light of common sense is the spark that has burst over the Senate when senate president-in-waiting Franklin Drilon sought for the abolition of the much-abhorred  priority development assistance funds (PDAF) notoriously known as "pork barrel".
But like the Roman senators who praised Julius Caesar to high heavens when they faced him and lynched him when he turned his back, no one from among Drilon's peers was brave enough to sincerely support his stand in public.
Whether the Ilonggo senator meant what he said in a recent dzMM interview, at least he had the guts to speak on something many of his ilk wouldn't dare say: "Payag ako na itigil etong pork barrel para matigil na etong mga reported anomalies. Itigil natin pork barrel. Sa akin ang buod nito kung i-retain ang pork barrel talagang i-limit na lang natin among sa institutional recipients."
Most of Drilon's fellow senators and their counterparts in the Lower House pretend to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, and principles, that they do not actually possess. Their actions belie their stated beliefs. 
In matters involving public interest and public funds, they also feign some desirable or publicly approved attitude, but their opinions and principles speak otherwise. 

PURPOSE

The primary purpose of government is supposedly to create and maintain a stable domestic environment, but  this bunch of hypocrites and their colleagues in the Lower House have eroded the people's trust and confidence on public officials in general. 
Some of them are the number one thieves in government. They stole the people's money on pretext of "public service" and "countrywide development" when in truth and in fact, they serve their own wallets and develop their own pockets.
Even if they will be arrested and put inside a cage, none of them will give up the "pork barrel", the chief source of corruption and scandal that has bedeviled public service in the legislative branch. 
They would rather lose and suffer embarrassment in a televised debate than face the grim prospect of finishing their terms without the fragrance of oodles upon oodles of moolah from the public coffer.
Legislators are mandated to create laws, not to decide which infrastructure project should go to a certain district in the city and province.  
It's mind-boggling how our national officials were able to institutionalize appropriation of "pork barrel" for lawmakers when they are fully aware such responsibility falls under the executive branch.

DISHONESTY

This mental dishonesty among our legislators has become a culture and has been tolerated with impunity in the past and present administrations. 
As long as our leaders don't have the political will and conscience, this immoral practice, the rampant misuse and squandering of taxpayers money, will go on unabated even in future administrations. 
How can we right the wrong when no less than the head of the House of Representatives, Speaker Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City, has fallen in love with "pork barrel"? 
"I'm against abolishing PDAF. There are so many things we can do to make sure PDAF goes to people that's doable...I'm for 100% scrutiny of PDAF. I'm also in favor of the House periodically upgrading its mechanism for knowing how it is spent and improving the way it is spent and also for making the whole thing open to the public," went Belmonte's justification.
"To the credit of the (Department of Budget and Management), they have actually been tightening up on the uses of the PDAF over the past 3 years. The rules have been tightened up for what purpose can you spend it. May listing yan, which was considerably lessened and definitely mentioned. Also the COA I know for a fact has been looking into the uses of the PDAF that has been turned over the (local government units)."