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.”

Lifestyle check for provincial engineers

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

By Alex P. Vidal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RICH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-o0o-

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

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

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

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

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

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

-o0o-

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

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

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

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

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

Selling life insurance to a dying patient

“A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.”  Stewart Alsop

By Alex P. Vidal

CITY hall is wishing for the stars if it hopes to find a buyer for the anomaly-ridden P137-million Pavia housing property in Pavia, Iloilo while the ghost of unresolved graft and corruption cases filed against city officials and several private persons is still hovering.

We can’t blame the city government, however, if it continues to cling to its last and only hope: sell the property.

It’s better to try than doing nothing.

The project has been rotting like a dead rat.

It must be disposed of by hook or by crook.

For several years now, it has become an ugly sight for people who pass by the area; it evokes memories of greed and corruption.

The area can’t escape the sight of motorists and even tourists who go to the airport and vice versa.

Those familiar with how the project went wrong can’t help but gnash their teeth, stomp their feet and shake their heads in utter disbelief, anger and frustration as they take one desperate look at the doomed project.

IMAGE

It’s a ghastly image of how the taxpayers’ money was scandalously wasted and stolen by a few privileged and abusive characters.

The longer it stays there, the more painful memory it will give the taxpayers.

But a wise real property buyer will always see to it that the deal is not bedeviled by any legal entrapment.

No rational real property investor will risk his money in a failed government project.

Even if the amount of the property is reduced to half, the nightmare it will bring to the buyer can't be compensated by any gain once he is sideswiped by the legal turmoil in the future.

It’s like buying a drum of fishes in January for a big party in December.

Or selling a life insurance to a terminally-ill AIDS patient.

-o0o-

MOST death-related motorcycle accidents could be due to the riders’ non-wearing of helmets.

When the bike is hit by a speeding car or bus in the highway, the tendency for the two-wheeled motorcycle is to fly away like a saucer.

If the rider and another occupant don’t have helmets, the impact could kill them immediately; they could suffer from fatal head injuries.

Either their heads, upon landing in the pavement, are violently damaged or pierced through by a pointed object or concrete steel like what happened to famous ballader Ric Segreto many years back.  

Balikbayan biker Manny Alcalde realized this when he met an accident in the highway in Mandurriao district, Iloilo City last month.

“I was in a hurry as I was getting late for a meeting that day,” recalled Alcalde, a newsman in Qatar. “A car in front of me slowed but hesitated to cut my lane, thus I lost control of my motorcycle.”

Alcalde suffered minor injuries in the arm.

“It’s good that I was wearing a helmet,” he hissed. “I picked myself up and rushed myself to the Iloilo Doctors Hospital using the same bike.”

Alcalde said he learned two lessons from the near-fatal road accident as a motorist: 1. Always wear a helmet; 2. Always prepare for an appointment earlier.

The non-wearing of helmets for bikers is actually a violation of

Republic Act No. 10054 or the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009.

The law mandates all motorcycle riders to wear standard protective motorcycle helmets while driving.

The law will secure and safeguard citizenry, particularly the operators or drivers of motorcycles and their passengers, from the ruinous and extremely injurious effects of fatal or life-threatening accidents and crashes.

The law mandates “to pursue a more proactive and preventive approach to secure the safety of motorists, their passengers and pedestrians at all times through the mandatory enforcement of the use of standard protective motorcycle helmet.”

‘Justice not tears and money’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Alex P. Vidal

Justice not plaques and material compensations.

Action not words.

Toughness not cold-heart.

Political will not empty statements.

A leader must always be ready to swim and sink for his men.

This was what former Iloilo City deputy mayor Pascualing R. “Junie” Espinosa Jr. emphasized when he recently urged President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III “not to be soft” on the massacre of 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) in Mamasapano, Mindanao last January 25.  

“President Aquino, as head of the state and commander-in-chief of the police and military, should show the murderers of the 44 SAF troopers that he has the balls,” thundered Espinosa, son of the late Iloilo City Rep. Pascual “Pascualing” Espinosa Sr.

“What the families of the fallen SAF men need is justice. He should identify the murderers of the 44 SAF men and file charges against them.”

DEPUTY

Espinosa, a lawyer who served as deputy mayor of the late Iloilo City mayor Rodolf T. Ganzon in 1989, said once the warrant of arrest has been issued by the court against the Bangsa Moro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) men who participated in the carnage, “the president should use the armed forces of the state to run after the perpetrators. That’s how our justice system should work.”

BIFF is a splintered armed group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which has a peace pact with the government.

“What happened was carnage. And it was done against the policemen who defended our government. In effect, it was an assault against the government,” he hollered.

“When our government is under attack, you will only give medals and money to the wives of the fallen policemen? You will only give scholarships to their children?”

He added: “I’m not against the giving of plaques and medals; I’m not against the scholarships. What the president should do is to show the enemy that he is firm, tough and ready to give justice. No display of tears. No display of sorrows!”

ORDINARY

When an ordinary thief or jaywalker is caught, he is brought to court, penalized and jailed under our justice system, Espinosa emphasized.

“When our cops are murdered, you will only cry?” he intoned.

President Aquino must show some firmness and toughness when dealing with rebels who want to divide the country, Espinosa stressed.

“Show the enemy that we are the state,” he suggested. “The state should not and cannot be a hostage of the rebels. The state must show its might and power and it is true the justice system and our armed forces.”

Espinosa wants the next leader of the country to be “a decisive and tough guy.”

“What we need is a leader who will enforce peace and order and implement genuine justice to the people through the rule of law and not lex taliones or law of the jungle,” Espinosa asserted.

Councilors act like spoiled brats

“Leaders who are kind of insecure or egocentric, they basically sabotage themselves.” John C. Maxwell

By Alex P. Vidal

THE acts by the city councilors of boycotting regular sessions and refusing to acknowledge their presiding officer since November 2014 have become inimical to the interest of the people of Roxas City, Capiz.

They’re tantamount to sabotage.

The Roxas city council has not officially passed several important measures since that period because of their refusal to attend the regular sessions.

Dadivas could not convene a regular session for lack of quorum.

Just like a father who can’t start the dinner because his children aren’t yet around to occupy their seats in the long table.

Citing “loss of confidence” in Vice Mayor Ronnie T. Dadivas, Councilors Julius L. Abela, Erwin B. Sicad, Cesar S. Yap, Erlynne B. Lim, Jennifer Anisco-Poliran, Matthew James Viterbo, Trina Marie Almalbis-Ignacio, Jose Agdalipe, and Virgilio A. Santos Jr. have refused to attend regular sessions as long as Dadivas is the presiding officer.

“Loss of confidence” is actually an oxymoron in this circumstance since both the vice mayor and city councilors are elected officials.

Sentiments are mere expressions and can’t be enacted into a law or ordinance.

TRANSLATE

Sentiments can’t be translated into a bellicose act that would jeopardize basic social services.    

They can’t be used to sabotage an official proceeding or regular session.

Appointed or co-terminus officials in the executive department can go anytime for loss of confidence from their appointing official, in this case either he is the mayor, the governor or the president.

Ironically, their rebellious acts began after Dadivas had a falling out with Mayor Angel Alan B. Celino, an ally of these brats.

In other words, politics or political bickering.

Because of politics, these city officials don’t give a damn if they will sacrifice the good and welfare of the people who elected them.

To add insult to taxpayers’ injury, they reportedly held a “session” inside the office of Mayor Celino on January 3, 2015 without Dadivas.

The city councilors did not only breach the separation of power between the executive and legislative branches, but they also yielded to the city mayor the city council’s jurisdiction as a co-equal branch.

A case of a lightning that strikes twice: their recalcitrance or continuing defiance to attend the official or regular session, and their deliberate move or brazenness to “convene” a session and “passed” resolutions with the presiding officer in the executive territory.

Only members of the city mayor’s cabinet are supposed to hold “sessions” inside the executive foxhole, not members of a legislature with the same electoral mandate.

Politics must have reared its ugly face early last year when the city councilors tried to unseat Dadivas as presiding officer in a special session on Nov. 20, 2014.

DECLARE

They approved a resolution declaring loss of confidence in Dadivas.

They were, however, stopped in their tracks by Regional Trial Court Judge Ignacio Alajar who issued a TRO against the city councilors after Dadivas sought a temporary restraining order (TRO)/injunction with the court.

The court prohibited them from holding sessions without the knowledge and authority of the presiding officer.

Dadivas has filed charges of usurpation of authority, grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of public officials, and dereliction of duty against the city councilors before the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Dadivas was contemplating also to file a petition with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare their position vacant.

A special election may be called if the Comelec will take cognizance of the vice mayor’s petition “because they--with malice aforethought--abandoned their duty as elected councilors of Roxas City.”

The city councilors, however, remained unfazed.

It’s so sad that politics has become the biggest stumbling block in the city’s march to progress and unity.

They have become fragmented politically.

No less than Capiz-pride DILG chief Mar Roxas has repeatedly enunciated the need for people of the city and province to unite because of the “bigger battle” they will face in 2016, whatever that means.

Will Mabilog ‘save’ city hall execs in market mess?

“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” Arnold H. Glasow

 By Alex P. Vidal

HITLER defended his controversial personal physician, Theodor Morell, from Nazi intriguers when they tried to link him in the aborted assassination of the Der Fuhrer on July 20, 1944.

Will the world’s number five city mayor, Jed Patrick Mabilog, also defend Iloilo City administrator Norlito Bautista and former Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) chief Vincent dela Cruz?

Bautista and Dela Cruz could not be victims of intrigues like Morell as it was the City Council committee on slaughterhouse and public markets chaired by Rodel Agado that is poised to recommend the filing of raps against them for the alleged rackets at the Iloilo Terminal Market or popularly known among Ilonggos as “super.”

The committee conducted several hearings and invited key witnesses and parties involved before coming up with a decision to hold the two officials accountable.

The hearings uncovered, among other irregularities, the unauthorized use of job hires and employees to collect rental fees and issue receipts and other accountable forms to market vendors.

DETAILS

Councilor Plaridel Nava said the full details of their investigation will be revealed this week.

Ribbed in the media for being a “rubber stamp” of the mayor’s office, Agado and Nava are beginning to let their critics eat their words with their bold decision to throw the books on two of Mabilog’s minions.

Mabilog may have already been tipped off of the committee’s move against two of his trusted lieutenants, and must be willing to subject them to any disciplinary action if evidence will warrant.

The city mayor is aware that prematurely absolving Bautista and Dela Cruz of any culpability in the market fiasco is not the logical step at this stage.

He is expected to let the chips fall where they may and respect the city council’s recommendation against his two underlings as a co-equal branch in government.

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ILOILO cable TV host Vicente “Danny Baby” Foz, Jr., and former scribe and now Iloilo capitol employee Nelson Robles share contrasting stories.

While Good Samaritans led by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog came to Danny Baby’s rescue when the latter was fighting for his life after suffering from stroke at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Iloilo Doctors Hospital on January 15, Robles is hard-pressed to look for cash needed for his “immediate” operation for prostate cancer.

The two met at Madge Café in La Paz Public Market in La Paz district, Iloilo City on Friday and shared their respective plights.  

Danny Baby: “First of all, I would like to thank Mayor Mabilog for visiting me three times during my confinement (from Jan. 15-29) despite his busy schedules. I understand that his schedule was full because it was a Dinagyang festival week.”

Danny Baby said he was at Amigo Terrace Hotel at around five o’clock in the afternoon on January 15 when he felt a pain in his abdomen and he couldn’t breath.

He was rushed to the hospital. Nurses called people listed in his cellular phone. First to arrive were fellow cable TV hostess Tonette Toledo and Manny Alcalde. Panay News managing editor Herbert Vego and DPWH Engr. Mario Castillano also came.

Danny Baby, 52, said Tonette texted Mayor Mabilog, who immediately sent political affairs consultant Ariel Castaneda "to fix matters."

Rizal–Lapuz village chief Releo Lumayad and Jalandoni Estate, Lapuz village chief Efren Gimeo also arrived one after the other.

Among those who also extended help, Danny Baby said, were Rep. Jerry Trenas, Councilor Lex Tupas and contractor Jojo Ang. “I thank God because this is now my second life,” he intoned.   

CANCER

Robles, 64, said he learned that he has a prostate cancer only last January 5 when result of his biopsy came out.

He underwent biopsy examination on December 22, 2014 conducted by Dr. Raul N. Sancho.

“My cancer is stage one,” sobbed Robles.

He said he needed immediate cash so he can undergo a nuclear bone scan “as soon as possible” before the operation which, he said, is scheduled in April.

“I’m only a capitol employee. I’m alone now (his wife, Zenaida, a public school teacher in Oton, Iloilo, died several years ago) and my three children are not anymore living with me. I might die if I can’t raise the needed amount for my operation,” teary-eyed Robles lamented. 

“To tell you honestly, I’m getting desperate right now and I’m waiting for my children to at least get in touch with me. I missed them so much. I want to see them before everything will be too late.”

Ilonggos face moral bankruptcy with STL’s surge

“Disappointment is a sort of bankruptcy-the bankruptcy of a soul that expends too much in hope and expectation.” 
                                                                          Eric Hoffer

By Alex P. Vidal

GAMBLING–legal or illegal—should not be used as a weapon to fight poverty.

There are many ways to combat poverty.

Number one is population control.

A bloated population means more mouths to be fed.

Less people means less problems on malnutrition; less problems on shortage of food production; less problems on housing; less problems on employment and other social services.

The government won’t be over-burdened.

Inviting investors to build factories; encouraging small-scale businesses; and pushing for income-generating programs and activities that provide employment opportunities.  

But not gambling.

Gambling corrupts both the poor and the rich.

It corrupts those in political power absolutely as they stand to benefit once we allow gambling like small town lottery (STL) to be legalized in Iloilo province.

Poverty can’t be solved overnight.

We are supposed to embrace the value of hard work if we want to rise in the economic ladder, and not to depend on numbers game.

STL, when legalized, can provide employment for those who solicit bets, but it will eat up the moral fiber of Ilonggos, who will only rely their luck-or even next meals-in the game of chance.

Since they expect to win an instant lump sum of cash for a small bet by the stroke of luck, Ilonggos will become head-over-heels with STL.

MANNA

They will only wait for the manna from heaven, thus they will end up lazy and won’t dream big beyond earning via easy money schemes.

Gambling will also teach Ilonggos to become subservient to politicians or those who advocated for the removal of any barrier to make it legal.

Gambling or the legalization of STL will also send a wrong signal to the younger generation.

When our own leaders are the ones pushing for gambling, it means it’s not evil per se; it means whether it is moral or immoral depends on the interpretation or choice of our leaders.

The church has been consistent on its stand against any form of gambling, much less any move to provide it with a legal structure.

We expect the church to make a solid stand once the provincial board of Iloilo will pass a resolution to give the governor’s office the green signal in favor of the legalization of STL.

We already have so many legalized gambling operations in the country.

LOTTO

Online-lotto under the auspices of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PSCO) is one of them.

But life of the Filipinos has not improved.

Many still live under the poverty belt.

Crime rate is still blamed on overpopulation, unemployment and lack of economic opportunities for qualified job-seekers.

The number of poor has not been reduced.

Despondent heads of families will no longer dream big and will be hooked on the legalized gambling for instant relief from the rigors of life.

In STL, only the politicians and police will stand ten feet tall, not the members of the hoi polloi.

It will not ensure an instant food on the table for bettors; it will not ensure an instant tuition fee for the students; it will not ensure a better life for Ilonggos as a whole.

Ilonggos will suffer from moral and even spiritual bankruptcy.