Nagpaparti-parte

Malinaw sa privilege speech ni Senador Ping Lacson kahapon kung paano winawalanghiya at pinagsasamantalahan ng pamahalaan ang mga mamamayang Pilipino. Ang masakit dito, hindi lang pala ang ehekutibo,

kundi ma­ging mga nasa lehislatura, ang siyang nakikipagpartihan sa pagpapariwara ng kaban ng bayan.

Sadyang talamak na ang korapsyon sa lahat na ng sangay ng pamahalaan. Ilang beses na tayong na-iskandalo sa mga anomalya sa mga ahensya ng pamahalaan, mula sa textbook scandal ng DECS, sa ferti­lizer scandal ng DA noong kapanahunan ni Joc-joc Bolante, sa mga kalokohan ng mga heneral ng kapulisan at ng militar, maging sa customs,

BIR, pati na ang Northrail at ZTE-NBN ng DOTC, at siyempre, ang pagkarami-raming iskandalo sa DPWH. Andiyan pa ang mga government-owned and controlled corporations, tulad ng PCSO, Pagcor, GSIS, at ngayon, sa ilalim ng pangangasiwa ni Romulo Neri, malamang pati sa SSS. Ang Come­lec, na isang constitutional commission, lalo na nung panahon ni Ben Abalos, naging nuknukan ng katiwalian.

Nguni’t nitong mga nagdaang araw, ang mga bulung-bulungan ukol sa korapsyon sa hudikatura ay sumabog na. At kay lakas ng sabog. Mismong mga mahistrado ng Court of Appeals ay halatang-halata, buking na buking. Kaya’t nag-imbestiga agad ang Korte Suprema. Nguni’t nang maghatol ang Korte, marami pa ring katanungan. Bakit daw si Justice Vicente Roxas lang ang sinipa, samantalang

ang daming kasalanan ng iba pang mahistrado at mga abogado na kasangkot? Kita mong sa hindi pananahimik ng taong-bayan, malubhang krisis ng kredibilidad ang naging dagok sa buong hudikatura.

Ngayon ay sumabog naman ang ukol sa mga tinaguriang “congressional insertions”. Masama na nga ang pag-abuso ng pork barrel, kung saan ilang bilyon taun-taon ang inaaksaya sa laki ng “tongpats” at mga walang kabuluhang mga proyekto ng ating mga mambabatas.

Liban pala sa pork barrel ay may dagdag pa. Pumaparti pa sa budget ng mga iba’t ibang sangay ng pamahalaan. At ang ipinakita nga ni Lacson ay ukol pa lamang sa DPWH. Ang mga matitinik sa mga mambabatas, sa Kamara de Representantes man o sa Senado, ay napakagaling sa pag-singit ng mga panibagong proyekto. Ito’y nagsisilbing karagdagan pa sa kani-kanilang mga pork barrel.

Kaya’t kung ang isang ordinaryong congressman ay may 70 milyung pork barrel para sa kanyang distrito, ang mga mas matitinik sa pagsingit, ay may malalaking dagdag, at kung gagawing basehan ang kalakaran sa pork barrel, e ‘di dagdag “tongpats” na rin? Kaawa-awa tuloy ang mga distrito ng mga bagitong mambabatas, na malamang sa hindi ay hindi marunong mang-singit. Kaya tuloy lalong hindi nagiging patas ang pag-unlad ng ating mga lalawigan.

Ano pa nga bang institusyon ng pamahalaan ang hindi nababahiran ng korapsyon? Ano pa nga ba ang hindi nakikiparte? Sino pa nga ba ang hindi nakikiparte sa mga bunga ng korapsyon?

nang daming kasalanan ng iba pang mahistrado at mga abogado na kasangkot? Kita mong sa hindi panana­himik ng taumbayan, malubhang krisis ng kredibilidad ang naging dagok sa buong hudikatura.

Ngayon ay sumabog naman ang ukol sa mga tina­­guriang “congressional insertions”. Masama na nga ang pag-abuso ng pork barrel, kung saan ilang bil­yon taun-taon ang inaaksaya sa laki ng “tongpats” at mga walang kabuluhang mga proyekto ng ating mga mambabatas.

Liban pala sa pork barrel ay may dagdag pa. Pumaparti pa sa budget ng mga iba’t ibang sangay ng pamahalaan. At ang ipina­kita nga ni Lacson ay ukol pa lamang sa DPWH. Ang mga matitinik sa mga mambabatas, sa Kamara de Repre­sentantes man o sa Senado, ay napakaga­ling sa pag-singit ng mga panibagong proyekto. Ito’y nagsisilbing karagdagan pa sa kani-kanilang mga pork barrel.

Kaya’t kung ang isang ordinaryong congressman ay may 70 milyung pork barrel para sa kanyang distrito, ang mga mas matitinik sa pagsingit, ay may malalaking dagdag, at kung gagawing basehan ang kalakaran sa pork barrel, e ‘di dagdag “tongpats” na rin? Kaawa-awa tuloy ang mga distrito ng mga bagitong mambabatas, na malamang sa hindi ay hindi marunong mang-singit. Kaya tuloy lalong hindi nagiging patas ang pag-unlad ng ating mga lalawigan.

Buhay ka pa?

I am writing this article after listening to the interview of Jun Lozada by Ms. Korina Sanchez and Ted Failon over DZMM. Lozada was the voice of desperate bewilderment at the recently promulgated Court of Appeals decision, which denied him his petition for protection under the writ of amparo, a constitutional shield re-burnished by Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

Lozada recounted how the solicitor general declared before the CA that they would not present any witnesses during the hearings. Another case of executive privilege, I suppose?

The CA division led by one Justice Leagago allowed that to pass, and asked the abductors or those party to what looked clearly like an abduction, merely to present a position paper. And then the decision, which in fine says (Tatagalugin ko na, even if Justice Regalado Maambong speaks it not, but Justice Sixto Marella Jr. of Taal and Balayan and other parts of Batangas understands perfectly):

"Buhay ka pa naman, e! Ang tagal-tagal mo nang palakad-lakad, buhay ka pa. Kaya, walang banta sa iyo. Hindi ka kinidnap. Sinundo ka lamang sa airport at ipinasyal. Kaya, hindi mo kailangan ang proteksyon. Bahala ka sa buhay mo. Tutal, buhay ka pa naman."

This is justice in the Philippines, under the reign of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It was dispensed by the totally discredited Court of Appeals, where one justice was recently dismissed, while others were slapped on the wrist by a Supreme Court whose numbers will not allow the tentacles of Malacañang in the Meralco TRO to be exposed any further.

The dismissed justice faced a choice, it would seem, between phoned-in promises of future promotion from no less than some of the most powerful in the Arroyo mis-government, as against cold cash. He chose wrongly. He probably did not believe promises from known liars and cheats.

The other justice admitted being persuaded (that is not pressure, he avers) by a high official in the Arroyo mis-government who happened to be his brother. He claimed to have been offered 10 million by a fixer who claims to have "fixed" the justice when he was yet in the RTC of Cagayan de Oro. Yet he assiduously insisted the case was purloined from him by the other justice.

These are the characters that make up the Court of Appeals. I do not know anything about the lady justice who ruled against protecting Lozada, but I know Maambong and I know many who know Marella. If I could just believe what I have heard…

The truth is that justice in this country is hopelessly compromised. From fix-cals to judges to justices. And one or a few upright men like Chief Justice Reynato Puno cannot clean up the stables of accumulated dirt and dung under a system of political patronage wielded by the most politically-motivated and governance-disinclined president this country has ever had the misfortune to have.

Come 2010, the same rotten system will be there. This system is hopeless.

***

Speaking of these would be fix-cals, kotong judges and garapalan justices who troop to De La Salle University each September to hopefully pass the bar examinations, will someone please relocate their annual agony elsewhere in these benighted islands?

Why not the UP or the Ateneo, with its sprawling compound that can accommodate hundreds of cars and thousands of fraternity brods, law school alumni and other such characters who make our neighbourhood life miserable each Sunday of each September?

They double-park, even triple-park in wider thoroughfares, clutter the narrowest of streets, and picnic in makeshift tents, an annual vexation upon those of us who have stubbornly resided in decrepit Manila rather than move to well-heeled suburbia.

And for what? To pass would be future fix-cals, would-be kotong judges, and garapalan justices?

***

I am in an angry mood as I write this Monday noon. For the past two days, I have had to endure briefings from career bureaucrats about the rotten budgetary system of this country, and how smart operators in both the executive and legislative, in cahoots with each other, rape and plunder the treasury each and every goddamned year.

Part of that information overload about the rotten system, Senator Lacson must have exposed by the time you read today’s column.

It really is time to revolt.

So whodunit? (2)

After Sen. Panfilo Lacson inquired from Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and the latter claimed that it was a "congressional insertion," the release of the mysterious double appropriation of 200 million pesos was withheld, according to Andaya. In other words, Andaya admitted that it was a double entry for the same project. Accordingly, he will not release the 200 million.

Which raises the question: if the double appropriation had not been discovered, an "anonymous" smart operator could have been given a SARO by DBM for what is on the surface, a different project? One is listed as C-5, the other Carlos P. Garcia, on different pages of the GAA, in different sections of the budget.

Now on Tuesday afternoon, after media speculation revealed that the doubly-funded road with two names was a pet project of Senate President Manuel Villar, the head of the upper house called a press conference where he admitted that it was indeed his project, and that it was a good project that would serve the needs of the motoring public, especially the people of Cavite. He kept repeating "Cavite" as if to taunt Lacson who hails from the province.

He felt hurt that some of his colleagues signed a resolution asking for an investigation by the Committee of the Whole, and by insinuations that he pocketed public funds, or would have pocketed public funds pertinent to the double appropriation. But none of his colleagues accused him of that, and the reason they wanted the matter investigated by the whole Senate was because it had been speculated about that the "congressional insertion" was a Senate insertion - one of their colleagues.

One can understand the feelings of the Senate President. What is actually said in a committee hearing is subject to the interpretation of media which reports about it. And media can always add to their report, whether factual or speculative. What turned out to be factual was that the project did exist, and Villar did cause the addition of 200 million pesos to it, something he admitted in that Tuesday press conference.

Probably because of the hurt, Villar even hit some colleagues other than Lacson. One was twitted for "hiding under the skirts" of someone, a statement which media interpreted to refer to Senator Mar Roxas, who also signed the resolution to investigate, and is romantically linked to a well-known media personality who earlier that day, commented about the double appropriation. And while he claimed he welcomed the investigation on "congressional insertions," Villar wanted all such insertions to be similarly investigated.

The following day, his loyal political ally, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, filed another resolution, this time asking only the Committee on Finance chaired by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, to investigate. His reason? If three committees of the Senate, led by his Blue Ribbon, was good enough to investigate the 329 million dollar ZTE-NBN deal, why should the entire Senate investigate a mere 200 million peso double entry?

Cayetano begs the issue. In the ZTE deal, no member of the Senate was alleged to be involved. In the Carlos P. Garcia project, no less than the DBM Secretary, his friend and former colleague in the House, Nonoy Andaya, pointed to a "congressional insertion" by a senator of the realm.

The C-5 extension, also known as Carlos P. Garcia Avenue extension, is part of an over-all plan to connect the SLEX and the NLEX and the Coastal Road. It is a worthwhile project, and no one has disputed that. Senate President Villar said 2.1 billion pesos was needed to complete that extended portion, which is part and parcel of a 42-kilometer highway. A project of this funding requirement, without foreign financing, is usually done through continuing appropriations, as in 200 million now, 300 million next, 400 million, etc. Some of the money goes to actual construction, some to acquisition of private properties for right-of-way. But that's another story, another angle.

Per Villar's statements in the Tuesday press conference, he merely wanted to increase the 200 million appropriation by another 200 million, re-aligning therefore funds from some other DBM-submitted budgetary request. And this is usually done in the bicameral conference committee, the supra-powerful "third chamber" of Congress, where deliberations are not allowed to be recorded in the minutes, for "secrecy" rather than "transparency." Why this has been the practice of both chambers in the consideration of the final budget is a case study for public administration courses. I guess they also call this "good governance" and in the interest of "full accountability and transparency." Oh these trapos.

But if the 200 million pesos is indeed an additional funding for the road project, which ought to mean a longer portion of constructed road, then why was one listed as C-5 while the other, in the DBM-submitted President's budget, called, as it now is, Carlos P. Garcia Avenue? Should not Yolanda Doblon, the Senate's in-house budget expert, who has handled the GAA since the time of Senate President Neptali Gonzalez, have listed it as "To fund an additional portion of the Carlos P. Garcia Avenue Extension between SLEX and Sucat Road"?

Assuming that this was a case of "human error," (Doblon is quite thorough, and old-timers in the Senate attest to that) which former Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, the Nacionalista Party spokesman, claims to be in the realm of the possible in various media interviews, then what gives Nonoy Andaya, Doña Gloria's minister of the purse, the right, nay, the audacity (to borrow from Barack Obama's lexicon) to claim that he has withheld, and will not release the additional 200 million pesos? Or perhaps, could it have been inserted after the bill was approved by Congress, and prior to final printing? Stranger things have happened in this country. They've done it in the case of other bills in some previous Congresses, we are told.

But whatever and however, the General Appropriations Act of 2008 is a law, passed by Congress, signed by Andaya's president. So how can he, a lawyer at that, unilaterally decide to stop payment on a legally-binding appropriation of the money of the Filipino people?

Senator Joker Arroyo faults the entire Senate for approving the 2008 GAA, and like himself, and like the Finance Committee chair, Senator Enrile, forgot to scrutinize every single line. Having so approved, then everyone must forever hold his peace, Joker pontificates. Why make a mountain out of a molehill, Joker fumes. 200 million a molehill? Oh these guys who live in Forbes and Dasmariñas. Is that what "pag-bad ka, lagot ka! means? If one realizes an error of omission, must he therefore keep quiet? Is that what senators are elected by the sovereign people for?

And young Alan Cayetano, coachmaster of the wagons circling the Senate President, says in an interview published by the Manila Times, "200 million is just loose change for Manny Villar". Barya lang pala ang 200 milyung piso para sa mga bukod na pinagpala. Wow!

Lacson merely asked questions of Andaya. The can of worms it has opened, if indeed there are maggots there, or the Pandora's box, a cube of surprises in the budget which expends monies of the people of the benighted land, needs to be explained in its full glory. As the buxom American singer, Dolly Parton, whose front is as legendary as her (at least by my taste) inability to sing, used to say, "Let it all hang."

In the process, taxpayers like you and I will see how the arcane art, science even, of budgetary magic, of cash instead of rabbits being produced out of hats by our "honourable" legislators, and spent by our "honourable" bureaucrats, comes about.

And how someone who does not know how to make "pakikisama" when it comes to husbanding the public till, is one person you and I, as taxpayers, should thank, precisely because he has refused to join the "old boys club".

Seeing double (1)

Literally, it was a case of seeing double. As in double entry, double costing.

While reviewing the General Appropriations Act of 2008, the current operating budget of the Republic, Sen. Panfilo Lacson saw on page 563, under Budget Item B of the Department of Public Works and Highways for locally-funded projects, sub-classified as "Urgent National Secondary and Local Roads and Bridges" an 200 million peso allocation for the construction of the President Carlos Garcia Avenue Extension from South Luzon Expressway to Sucat Road in Parañaque.

Then, some 90 or so pages of the three-inch thick GAA, also under the DPWH, this time under sub-section H for "Urgent Infrastructure including Local Projects", Item No. 7 provided another 200 million pesos for the "Extension of C-5 Road, also from the South Luzon Expressway to Sucat Road in Parañaque".

Was this a case of double entry, a human error, a printing error? But if it were, why "C-5" and why "Carlos P. Garcia"? A quick check showed that C-5 has been re-named after the Bard from Bohol who preceded Doña Gloria’s father as president. Clearly, this was not a human error, as in that of a cross-eyed printing proofreader.

Lacson sensed that the executive was up to its usual tricks again. A contractor bills the government twice for the same road construction. DBM issues two SARO’s and two NCA’s, one for the real McCoy, and another for the deliberately inserted double. Nothing is impossible, as far as creative ways of making money is concerned, in this lying, cheating and stealing government after all. The contractor is happy. Boys in DPWH and DBM, or someone else in Malacañang, would be happier, while Juan de la Cruz is dunned 400 million for a 200 million peso project.

The opportunity to ask DBM Secretary Rolando Andaya came last Monday during the first budget deliberation hearing on the President’s submitted budget of 1.4 trillion pesos for 2009. When Lacson asked Andaya to explain the double entry, Andaya first showed surprise. He asked for a suspension of the hearing so he could consult his staff, and then, properly advised, he said the additional 200 million was actually a "congressional insertion", with an impish smile on his lips.

In fine, the Doña’s minister of the purse was saying, "Search me. It’s Congress that inserted that additional 200 million, not me, not Malacañang". The chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Juan Ponce Enrile, looked genuinely surprised too. Paano nga naman nangyari ito? But there the entries were in black and white, part of several kilograms of paper that make up the budget of the Republic.

Later, Andaya answered, upon further questioning by Lacson, that they had not yet released the 200 million more, and will no longer. One recalls how Eduardo Ermita and every other Palace apologist tried to explain the humongous "tongpats" of 200 million (dollars) in the ZTE-NBN project. "Tinigil na ni Presidente ang project. Kaya wala namang inilabas na pera." He, he, he. Mabuti na lang nabuking.

The people saved 329 million dollars. How much ZTE lost because of advances to the matatakaws they dealt with is their problem. All because Lacson delivered a privilege speech in the Senate, and Joey de Venecia and Rolex Suplico blew the whistle on greed so gross.

Now Lacson does it again. Hawk-eyed, eh? He spots double accounting, and sees red. DBM’s Andaya, in a situation where for once it’s not Malacañang’s dirty hands in the cookie jar, gleefully says, "It’s Congress! He, he he."

But who in Congress caused the insertion?

By Tuesday, Lacson was asked by radio commentators to amplify his case of the double entry. He did, and Andaya even tried to claim credit for his discovery. Andaya praised the DBM staff for discovering the double appropriation early in the year, which thus prevented, he now claims, double payment. But if so, why did he keep quiet? Why did he not order an investigation? Isn’t the budget of the Republic such a sacred document, that it must be kept pristine from double entries, double dealing, double appropriations?

Only when Lacson brought it up in committee hearing, and only after his staff "reminded" him, did Mr. Andaya "stop" the anomaly, and "save" the Republic 200 million pesos. Kung hindi pala nabuking, tuloy sana ang ligaya, eh? When would the SARO and the NCA be made to pay for the C-5 extension, as distinguished from what was paid for Carlos P. Garcia Avenue extension? Likely in December 2008, just as Christmas carols fill the air and make politicians happy, while the poor, both the always poor and the nouveau poor, wonder what joy there is in life so miserable in the benighted isles.

So whodunit?

Dobol trobol

Ang pamagat ng pitak natin ngayon ay hango sa pelikula ng King of Philippine comedy, na si Dolphy. Bagama’t hindi ko napanood ang pelikulang ito, siyang pumasok sa aking isip nang mabuking ni Senador Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson noong Lunes, ang “double appropriations” o doble-bad­yet para sa isang lansangan sa Parañaque. Nagkabuhul-buhol sa pagsagot ang henyo ni Donya Gloria sa palusot, manang-mana sa kaibigan niyang si Mike Defensor. Ang tinutukoy ko ay ang kalihim ng DBM na si Rolando Andaya Jr. Siya ang na-dobol trobol.

Noon palang budget ng 2008, na siya nating ginagasta ngayon, ay dalawang beses inilista ang iisang proyekto, at bawa’t lista ay pinondohan ng 200 milyung piso, o 400 milyung piso sa kabuuan. Sa General Appropriations Act for Metro Manila, inilista ang “President Carlos P.

Garcia Avenue extension from SLEX to Sucat” at pinondohan ng 200 milyon. Sa listahan naman ng “urgent infrastructure including local projects”, may 200 milyong pondo rin para sa “construction of C-5 Road Extension from SLEX to Sucat Road”.

Ang siste, pareho ang C-5 Road at Pres. C.P. Garcia Avenue. Ipi­nangalan na pala kay yumaong Pangulong Garcia ang C-5. Natiklo ng matalas na mata ni Ping Lacson. Buking!

Napatigil ang unang hearing sa Senado ng badyet, na ang nagpi-preside ay si Senador Juan Ponce Enrile, Chairman ng Committee on Finance, at masugid na alyado ni Donya Gloria. Maski siya ay napatanga. Oo nga naman. Si Andaya naman ay nagmukhang hil­o, at humingi ng suspension, samantalang sinangguni sa kanyang mga katulong at assistant sa DBM.

Matapos maki-sangguni, sinabi ni Andaya na hindi sila sa DBM ang may gawa ng badyet na iyan, at ito’y dumaan sa Kongreso, kaya’t ang pagkaka-doble raw ng 200 milyon ay isang “congressional insertion”. Ibig sabihin, isiningit ng Kongreso!

Inipit siya ngayon ni Lacson. “Kung pinalalabas mo na ang Kongreso ang nagsingit, sino sa Kongreso? Mababa o mataas na kapulungan?”

Bakas sa mukha ni Enrile ang pagkakamangha. Siya mismo hindi alam ang nangyari, at nagtataka sa pangyayaring ito. Ang naka-imprentang kopya ng budget, matapos na suriin sa komite at sa bicame­ral conference committee, at matapos magkaroon ng floor debates, sa Kamara at sa Senado, ay sinisertipikahan ng apat na tao: Ang chairmen ng Appropriations Committee sa House (Edcel Lagman) at ng Finance Committee sa Senador (JPE), at pagkatapos ay nilalagdaan ng Speaker (Joe de V pa noon) at Senate President, si Manny Villar. Sino ang nagpalusot, kung tatanggapin ang palusot ni DBM Andaya?

Nang hindi makapagbigay ng maayos na sagot si Andaya, sinabihan siya ni Lacson na “obligasyon mo bilang opisyal na usigin at sampahan ng kriminal na kaso ang sinumang nagsingit nitong dobleng badyet na ito, maging sino pa man, Malacañang o Kongreso, o sinuman, congressman o senador”.

Maya-maya’y nagsalita na muli si Andaya. “Hindi pa ho na

iri-release ang pondong ito”, ang sunod niyang palusot. Kung saan sinabihan naman siya ni Lacson, “ipakita mo sa amin ang mga SAR­O at NCA (papeles na nagpapatunay ng release ng pondo mula sa DBM) upang patunayang hindi pa kayo nagri-release”.

Sinuman ang nakaisip ng kawalanghiyaang ito ay nuknukan ng pagka-magnanakaw. Isipin mo, gumagawa ng 200 milyon na parang bula? Nag-doble lista lamang, gumawa na ng dobol trobol? Tumataginting na salapi ng bayang basta na lamang ibubulsa, kung hindi nabuking ni Ping!

Ke nai-release o hindi ang salaping ito, krimen pa rin sa ating batas ang ginawa. At hindi dapat palampasin, kung sino man ang tao, o koponan ng mga taong ito.

The flippant Mr. Ermita

I do not know if the press secretary is concurrently her spokesperson. The few times the former gentleman from the boundary of Bukidnon and Davao opened his mouth since his surprising appointment, he just succeeded in creating more enemies for "his" president. Remember when he disputed survey findings, to the point of calling the men and women behind Pulse Asia as "incompetent, irresponsible, and unpatriotic"?

He even fired off a letter to my friend Pepe Miranda, and when the latter failed to answer after a few days, as if a letter from her majesty’s press secretary had to be treated with utmost dispatch, he decried Miranda’s lack of a response over media. I have not bothered to ask Pepe if he did respond, because if I were in his place, I wouldn’t give her press secretary my time of day. But Pepe the Batangueño is infinitely more conciliatory than this happy warrior from Laguna.

In any case, if her press secretary pretty much sounds like a screech rather than velvet before the public, their Boss Woman in the stinking palace beside the stinking river can always fall back on her smooth operator, her executive secretary no less, Eduardo Ermita of Balayan in Batangas.

I do not quite recall any executive secretary who has made it habitual to face the press each week in a press conference of sorts. His predecessor Renato de Villa, also a Batangueño from San Juan, hardly faced the press during the short stint before he realized he had helped create a political monster. Neither did his successor, Bert Romulo. Before them, Ronny Zamora would occasionally answer questions from the Malacañang beat, usually the "ambush" variety. After all, speaking for the president is the domain of the press secretary, if the president did not have an official spokesperson.

But Eduardo Ermita apparently loves to hear himself talk, and see himself preen over the television cameras. Always nattily attired in crisp barong or spiffy business suit with his cravat appropriately knotted, the guy exudes an air of confidence, as if he was capable of explaining every presidential scandal, every presidential gaffe, every presidential tantrum, every questionable decision, away, and smoothly. Always unflappable, always serene-looking, always so sure of himself, yet unfortunately, always so flippant.

Whether in English or in Tagalog, the Batangueño folksiness comes out. And while most Batanguenos can get hot behind the collar easily, this one does not. Must be the softening influence of Visayans on the west coast, of velvet upon steel, of ‘te over ala eh.

Take just the latest examples. When the vice mayor of hermosa Zamboanga wondered aloud why American troops never seem to leave the country, even if their presence is supposed to be covered by the "Visiting Forces" Agreement, Ermita hushes him up by remarking that Americans "look alike" kasi. You could not distinguish Sarah Palin’s son if you saw him and Dick Cheney’s grandson, if he has any. Pare-pareho ang hitsura nila. "They come and go. They are replaced every now and then. They leave, contrary to the critics’ impression that they have not left," her majesty’s executive secretary flippantly explains away. As if he kept tab of their identities, their whereabouts, their comings and goings.

Reminded that such prolonged and continued stay constitutes an infringement upon our sovereignty, Ermita is dismissive–"That’s just the opinion of one person." One person or many, the point is the same: Do we at all value our sovereignty? Do we at all care whether our international covenants are followed by foreigners or not? Clearly Mr. Ermita does not care. National sovereignty and territorial integrity are mere trifles as far as he and his boss woman are concerned.

Which is why the man they assigned to head the Western Mindanao Command, Nelson Allaga of Esperon’s cabal and Garci’s scholars, when asked about the continued presence of GI Joes in and around his command, berates: "Eto na naman kayo – ano ba ang personal na galit nyo sa Amerikano?" Nothing flippant there, but ignorance of the worst kind, an inability to realize that he is a soldier of an independent republic. If he had been working in the French Legion, his field marshal would have summarily removed his epaulets in front of his command.

Then once more, the flippant Mr. Ermita, asked to comment on the erudite qualities of his boss woman’s choice for deputy national security adviser, El Duque de Nueva Segovia en el Baluarte de Ciudad Fernandina, Senor Don Luis Singson "El Chavit", compares the latter’s qualifications with the newly discovered "pit bull" of the Republican neo-cons, Sarah Palin of Wasilla in Alaska. Singson has far more experience than the mother of five from the frozen tundra, he rightly boasts.

"Imagine, a 44-year old lady who is governor of Alaska for only two years and yet was thrust into the national scene as a vice-presidential candidate?" Ermita wondered in amazement. While El Chavit, mientras tanto, has run for senator of her realm (and mercifully lost) and has been governor of Nueva Segovia for as long as anyone and his mother could remember. Por eso, Senor Ermita, why didn’t La Gloria choose her to be his running-mate in 2004, instead of that newsreader from ABS-CBN?

Mr. Ermita conveniently forgets that Sarah Palin, despite her mere two-year experience as chief executive of Alaska, is an anti-corruption crusader, much unlike what a judge in Nevada described the new NSC deputy–"a demonstrably corrupt governor from the Philippines".

Mr. Ermita believes that El Chavit is highly qualified for his new posting. I agree. With a pre-med graduate, Norberto Gonzales, as national security adviser, whatever is wrong about a licensed embalmer becoming his deputy? Pathology plus necrology makes for excellent national security in the realm of the Dona’s Never-Never land. Throw in that jesuitic Archie Intengan, with his theology of justified violence, and you have the perfect brew for the queen who would reign forever and ever. Such excellent credentials for bloody company.

At the end of all arguments about the fitness or lack of the same, Ermita can always claim that appointments of whomever to whatever and wherever are explained by "presidential prerogative". The flippant Mr. Ermita mistakes prerogative for the more appropriate description – presidential whim.

But thank God for the smallest mercies, a friend reminds me. Remember when Prospero Pichay was promised the post of administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, with its billions in forced OFW contributions? Well, when everybody and his mother raised a howl, the Boss Woman reconsidered.

"She’s not that heartless, after all," chides my friend. Naawa rin sa pondo ng mga OFW. And so to LWUA (sounds the same anyway) goes Prospero. Wait till the Doña instructs her minister of the purse, Nonoy Andaya (who wants a new district carved out of Camarines Sur because el Segundo principe has robbed him of his family fiefdom), to infuse "katas ng VAT" for LWUA. Matutuwa na si Prospero.

Si Chavit, si Pichay, atbp.

Itinalagang deputy National Security Advise­r ang dating gobernador ng Ilocos Sur at natalong kandidato ni Donya Gloria sa pagka-senador noong nagdaang taon, si Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson.

Sa ibang bansa ay napakahalaga ang puwesto ng National Security Adviser. Bagama’t hindi naman tayo ka­sing-kapangyarihan ng mga bansang tulad ng Estados Unidos, aakalain mong bibigyan naman ng sapat na pagpapahalaga ni Donya Gloria ang puwestong ito. Ang mga nauna sa kanya sa Mala­cañang ay sinu-sino ba ang ninombra? Kay Erap,

si Alex Aguirre, na minana pa kay FVR. Si Ramos naman, ang malalim na si Jose Almonte, isa ring retiradong heneral. Si Cory Aquino, ang respetadong heneral na si Rafael Ileto. Maging si Donya, nu’ng unang maupo sa Malacañang noong 2001, ay hinirang si Roilo Golez, na mahusay na administrador bukod sa pagiging Annapolis graduate.

Pero nang lisanin siya ni Golez, bigla na lang sumulpot itong si Norberto Gonzales, na dating Presidential Adviser on Special Concerns, anuman ang ibig sabihin nu’ng puwestong iyon. Ayon sa pagbunyag ni dating Rep.

Rolex Suplico na ngayon ay bise-gobernador ng Iloilo, habang tinutuligsa niya ang muntik na ring pakikipagkasundo sa MILF noon pang 2003, ang tinapos nitong si Gonzales ay pre-med. May plano palang magdoktor na naunsyami. Nauwi tuloy sa national security.

Ngayon naman, si Chavit ang hinirang na panga­lawa kay Gonzales. Dati namang embalsamador (opo, hindi niya ito itinatanggi, pagka’t negosyo ng pamilya nila ang punerarya), liban sa pagkatagal-tagal na gobernador. Wika nga ng isang judge sa Nevada, USA, si Chavit ay isang “demonstrably corrupt governor from the Philippines”. O, ano pa ang angal ninyo? Isang pre-med, tutulungan ng isang embalsamador. Kaya naman pala hinirang ni Donya Gloria.

Ito namang isa pang talunan, si Prospero Pichay, nahirang sa Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), matapos na paglawayin na siya ang uupo bilang tagapag-ingat ng bilyun-bilyong pisong pondo ng OWWA, na dugo at pawis ng mga “bagong bayani” (kuno). May puso naman pala si Donya Gloria, wika ng kaibigan kong si Nixon. Naawa naman sa mga OFW, at hindi doon inilagay si Prospero.

Tinatawag na “presidential prerogative” ang paghirang ng mga opisyal sa pamahalaan. Kaya lang, para kay Donya Gloria, ang prerogative ay kapritso. Basta’t gusto niya, period. Manigas kayo.

***

Mukhang naaayos na ang suliraning idinulog sa atin noong taga-Calamba,

na bumili ng bahay at lupa sa Mahogany Villas. Ito’y agad na inaksyunan ni Kabayang Noli, ang pangalawang pangulo na siya ring taga-pangulo ng HUDCC. Sa ikalawang sulat sa atin ni Bise Presidente, sinabi niyang malamang ay sa Phase Two ang naturang kabahayan, at nangako raw ang developer na aayusin na nila ang supply ng kuryente roon, na pansamantala pa lamang at hindi pa naililipat sa Meralco. Salamat,

Kabayan!

***

Panay ang liham sa atin ni Philip Regis Gomez, ng All Star Cast productions, ukol sa hindi diumano pagbayad sa kanya ng tama ng isang pribadong kumpanya, ang Island Cove Resort sa Cavite. Ito’y patungkol sa hatian sa kita ng isang fashion show kung saan naagrabyado raw siya.

Kung wala namang kasangkot na ahensya ng pamahalaan, o ‘di kaya’y may agarang maitutulong ang ahensya ng pamahalaan, ayokong sumawsaw sa pribadong problema, Ginoong Gomez. Sapat na siguro ang mabanggit ko ito sa ating pitak, at sana naman ay natulungan ko kayong mapaabot sa mga may-ari ng naturang pribadong otel. Kung sadyang hindi makatarungan ang ginawa sa inyo, maaari naman kayong dumulog sa husgado o piskalya.

Thug on a Saulog bus

When I was much younger, there was this urban legend about drivers of Saulog buses. They would weave their contraptions through every road and overtake whenever convenient with wild abandon. The buses I took from our hometown in Laguna were definitely not of the Saulog variety, which had a monopoly of the Cavite to Manila route. We took old-fashioned BLTB, then under the management of German-Americans who settled in the country, or so my parents told me. Daredevils their drivers certainly were not.

When I learned how to drive, going to Tanza or further to Nasugbu and Matabungkay for a weekend swim with the barkada became frequent. That meant having to bear the traffic of the narrow national road between Dongalo in Paranaque and Zapote in Cavite, where I got first-hand encounter of what daredevils on the road of the Saulog variety meant. In wider Aguinaldo Highway, they were the absolute kings of the road. Stay aside, or get swiped by a speeding green and white Saulog rushing to Noveleta or beyond.

But last Tuesday, I got to see for myself how a Saulog driver could be both daredevil and a plain thug. It was about three in the afternoon, and we were cruising eastward along Quirino Avenue in Manila's fifth district, on our way to a meeting in Makati. Past the Manila Zoo, traffic slowed down because of those infernal pipe-laying dug-outs that Maynilad Water's contractors never could seem to finish. It's been going for months and months on end, making Alfredo Lim's City of Manila dug-out territory, with portions of major arteries closed to traffic.

But along President Quirino Avenue, from President Roxas Boulevard beside the sea to President Osmeña highway to the east, there are dug-outs to the left and dug-outs to the right, in helter-skelter fashion that makes driving a perennial headache. If you drive frequently enough in the Malate-Ermita-Paco area, you know what I mean. Even at night, you simply could not drive fast for fear of crashing into the fenced-off dug-outs.

So on this hot Tuesday afternoon, my driver went slow clip, as usual, on traffic that would intermittently flow and stop according to the lay of the dug-outs. Apparently, a Saulog bus impatiently dogged us at the back, its driver mad that my driver would not give way to his desire to speed off, even as perched high on his bus, he could see the obstacle course that all vehicles had to confront. I was talking on my cellphone at the time, and did not particularly notice what had happened. At one particular obstacle, when the Saulog bus driver thought he could pull off his overtaking stunt, my driver did not pull over to the side. Aba, Saulog hindi pinagbigyan? This particularly angered him, that when at a wider swath of road presented him with the opportunity, he suddenly opened his door, swung close to my vehicle, and shouted invectives at my driver.

"Kanina ka pa pinapatabi, hahara-hara ka!" To which my driver shouted in retort, "Bakit ka ba nagmamadali, e kita mong ang daming hukay!" then stopped the car. My driver even went down, and before I knew it, a running argument with the Saulog bus driver ensued.

As such arguments go, I heard my driver shout, "Gusto mo, bumaba ka dyan!" By which time, I was telling my driver to get back into the car. Then again, the Saulog driver pulled out a long pipe from the floor on the left side of his seat (or was it a rounded pole), and was about to come down, had he not been stopped by the bus conductor. I asked my driver to get the bus plate number, while the Saulog driver sped off. Hindi pala lumalaban ng mano-mano, kailangan may tubo pa, Kabitenyo pa naman sa punto ng dila.

It was Bus No. 798, with Plate Number DXS 583. It suddenly swerved to the right, northward towards Taft Avenue, at a clip that amazed the traffic aide in the center of the junction.

Always make way for the king of every road - a thug behind the wheel of a Saulog bus. Maybe Cavitenos have long learned to live with them, but heck, I'm a taxpayer, and I demand that the LTFRB under Thompson Lantion of Nueva Vizcaya and the LTO under Bert Suansing of Tarlac and Manila do something about thugs in their territory.

***

Reacting to our previous article entitled "Pay," August of Metro Manila wrote this classic: "If I were President Arroyo, I would resign if they don't give me a raise!"

Yes indeed. Why should she remain "overworked and underpaid"?

***

And speaking about the discriminatory philosophy behind securing the Senate building, which we also wrote about, reader Antonio Barrientos writes from as far as Canada:

"Minsan sinabi sa akin ng aming Director, the late Pacifico N. Aprieto of the UP Press at Textbook Board Secretariat na "kapag naka-amerikana ang bisita ay sasalubungin ng guwardiya ng po at sir at matinding pagalang, pero hindi mo alam iyan ang mga magnanakaw." (Loosely translated: When our security guards see men in suits, they greet these with utmost respect, little realizing that in truth, these are thieves.) "(At) Itinataboy natin ang mga 'gusgusin' na nagbabakasali na marinig man lang ang kanilang hinaing. (While we throw away the downtrodden who only wish to be heard.) We hate to admit it, but discrimination has become part and parcel of our culture as a people. And we need to go back to the times when we idolized men like Ramon Magsaysay and revered the writings of Apolinario Mabini,"

How very true.

***

As expected, nine of our Supreme Court justices finally wrote finis to the saga of truth versus obfuscation that is at the very heart of the issue of executive privilege invoked by Romulo Neri to slavishly protect his patroness in Malacañang.

Executive privilege is now legally enshrined, for what the Court says is part of the law of the land, as the "last refuge of scoundrels".

What a country!

Pay

She's overworked, but underpaid." That really takes the cake, coming as it did from the Press Secretary, mismo.

Malacañang really takes us for fools. "Ginagago tayo," as the tambays of Tondo would say.

First, everybody and his mother knows that the official salary is the least of a president's concerns. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her successors live in the fine splendour of a palace, albeit stinking and beside a stinking river, still as grand as grand can be. Her household expenses are charged to the taxpayer, even the fine XO cognac that she sips each night. She moves around in a limousine followed by a half-kilometer long convoy of gas guzzlers, and when it strikes her fancy, which is almost always, takes a bevy of helicopters to wherever else in Luzon, or the islands. When she leaves for abroad, whether it is to come and go "like a thief in the knight" (that's another classic from the bowels of the Press Secretary's office) to Boao in Hainan, China, or with a planeload of congressmen and other ass-lickers to Washington DC to dog Obama and McCain, the taxpayer foots the huge bill.

Again, as the tambays of Tondo would say of a lucky fellow who got a government job, "Binigyan ka na nga ng trabaho, naghahanap ka pa ng suweldo?" which is exactly what the masa would say of Gloria. "Presidente ka na nga, tataasan mo pa ang suweldo mo?"

Talagang lokohan.

The unkindest cut is that her budget secretary, Nonoy Andaya, would try to sneak it into the "president's budget" and make it look as part of her generosity towards government workers. Because while she would get a hundred percent increase (remember, she's "overworked and underpaid"), "her" workers would get tokens, not even enough to pay for the horrendous price increases triggered by her unconscionable VAT on everything.

Do it the proper way, her bête noire in the Senate, Ping Lacson, advises her. He filed Senate Bill 42 long before, which seeks to rationalize the pay scale of government officials and employees, which is being supported by no less than "her" Civil Service Commission. (I refer to the CSC as an institution, not to its previous chairperson, my friend Karina Constantino David, who would bristle at being tagged "hers"). Get the measure passed in Congress, Lacson says, instead of "sneaking in billions of taxpayer's money into next year's budget, which cannot be used anyway because the Constitution prohibits it," Lacson said.

Under Art. VII, Sec. 6 of the 1987 Constitution, "the salaries of the President and Vice-President shall be determined by law and shall not be decreased during their tenure. No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the term of the incumbent during which such increase was approved."

Under Art. VI, Sec. 10, "the salaries of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives shall be determined by law. No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the full term of all the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives approving such increase."

So why did Andaya sneak in the funds for the pay hikes in the 2009 "president's budget" knowing that the Constitution prohibits both the executive and the legislative which altogether pass the law to benefit from any increases in salary during their incumbency? Rolando Andaya Jr. is a lawyer, a product of Father Bernas' Ateneo College of Law.

Obviously, so his president can realign the funds, whichever way she pleases. "May dagdag, may dagdag" na naka-lungga sa budget, at pwede niyang hugutin kung saan niya gustong gastahin. Maybe for more doggie bags to her favorite congressmen and her favorite governors.

Ang daya mo naman, Nonoy. You used to be such a nice guy, como tu papa, the super-efficient and super-liked Rolly. It must be the ill wind that goes around in the stinking palace beside the stinking river. Or the infectious lying, cheating and stealing that is hallmark of the Arroyo presidency.

***

Now to our senators: Are they aware that their Senate security people practice discrimination against the ordinary man?

A friend of mine travelled to the Senate last week in a taxicab. At the entrance to the GSIS Complex which houses the Senate as tenant, all vehicles are routinely checked, taxicabs more thoroughly than private cars. Fine enough. But after you're "processed" and you reach the south bend, private cars are allowed in, while passengers of taxicabs, or jeepneys presumably, cannot come in. The passenger has to alight, and walk all the way to the Senate entrance, after being frisked by another layer of security people.

Why the discrimination? When my friend finally got inside, after undergoing another usual security check at the lobby, he went to the Senate press and information office and complained to his friends if they were aware of the discriminatory practice. He was met with questioning stress, by media people, mind you, and asked, "E bakit ka kasi nagta-taxi, may kotse ka naman?"

Wow! And this is supposed to be the SPQP? Senatus Populus Que Philippinensis. The Senate of the People of the Philippines.

Kung wala kang kotse, maglakad ka?

Tapos sila, naka Numero Siete. I have even seen convoys of two senators with about three or four back-up vehicles, preceded by two motorcycle-riding security personnel, sashaying around Roxas Boulevard, making way for the "precious" cargo of "bopols" in their convoy.

Anong akala nila, si Ronnie Puno sila?

Si Mang Pandoy

Namatay na pala si Mang Pandoy, na siyang naging simbolo ng maralitang taga-lungsod noong kampanya ng 1992, at inanyayahan pa ni Pangulong Fidel Ramos sa kanyang pasinaya noong Hunyo 30, 1992 sa Luneta. Sa kanyang talumpati, nangako si Ramos na pagtutuunan ng pansin ng pama­halaan at gagawing prayoridad ang pagpapaunlad ng ekonomiya, upang mabiyayaan naman ang mga katulad ni Mang Pandoy.

Ngayong siya ay pumanaw na, saka lang nanariwa sa ating mga isipan kung ano ang nangyari kay Felipe Natanio, alias Mang Pandoy. Siya pala ay nabigyan ng animnapung metro kwadrado ng lupa ng NHA sa Caloocan,

na huhulugan buwan-buwan ng singkwenta pesos lamang. Binigyan siya ni Spea­ker Joe de Venecia ng 8,000 piso upang makapagpatayo ng bahay sa lupang iyon. Ngunit ibinenta lamang ni Mang Pandoy sa halagang P18,000 ang lupa at bumalik sa squatter area sa Quezon City kung saan siya nagtayo ng kabahayang maliit. Kinuha siyang “consultant” ni Speaker Joe, at sinuwelduhan ng 6,000 piso bawat buwan, ngunit ito’y parang pabuya lamang, at hindi naman siya talagang nagtrabaho. Nagkaroon pa ng programa sa PTV-4, na pinamagatang “Ang Pandayan ni Mang Pandoy”, ukol sa mga suliranin ng mahihirap, kung saan binayaran siya ng 2,000 piso tuwing lingo. Ngunit hindi nagtagal ang programa, at noong 1995 ay itinigil na sa ere. Liban sa mga ito, binigyan pa siya ng pautang na 200,000 piso diumano para ipuhunan sa negosyo, na hiniling ni Pangulong Ramos kay dating QC alkalde Mel Mathay.

Sa lahat ng mga biyayang ito, iisipin mong dapat ay matiwasay na ang pamumuhay ni Mang Pandoy at kanyang pamilya. Pero heto’t naalala na lamang muli nang siya ay pumanaw, halos kasing hirap pa rin ng noong siya ay nadiskubre ni Randy David, at itinanghal sa programa sa telebisyon upang itanong sa mga pulitikong kandidato noon sa pagka-pangulo, kung ano ang kanilang gagawin para sa mga tulad ni Mang Pandoy.

Maaaring inaksaya ni Mang Pandoy ang mga biyayang naibigay sa kanya bilang simbolo ng karalitaan. Maaaring dala ng kasikatan noon at kali-kaliwang mga pabuya ay hindi niya pinagplanuhan kung paano gagamitin ang mga biyaya upang mapabuti ang kalagayan niya at mga anak sa buhay. Maaari rin namang dala ng kakulangan ng pinag-aralan ay hindi siya marunong ng mga pamamaraan upang makaangat sa buhay, at umasang palagian siyang bibigyan ng pamahalaan.

“May hangganan din naman ang pamimigay (charity),” wika nga ni Profesor David.

Ano nga ba ang responsibilidad ng pamahalaan sa kanyang mamamayan, lalo na sa mga mahihirap? Una ay pantay-pantay na pagpapairal ng batas, na walang kinikilingan, walang pinapaboran. Kasama na riyan ang pagpapairal ng kaayusan at katahimikan sa lipunan. Pangalawa ay makapagbigay ng mga batayang serbisyo, tulad ng edukasyon, kalusugan, at mga imprastrakturang kailangan para lumago ang kalakalan at magka-mayroon ng hanapbuhay ang lahat ng nais at kayang maghanapbuhay.

Sa pamamagitan ng mga ito, nabibigyan ng pamahalaan ang maski sinong Pilipino ng pagkakataong umasenso at umangat sa buhay. Mag-aral ka ng wasto, magsipag ka sa trabaho o hanapbuhay, at aasenso ka.

Sa pagdaan ng panahon, nakikita nating pasama ng pasama ang serbisyo publiko na dapat ay responsibilidad ng pamahalaan sa mamamayang binubuwisan nito. Nu’ng araw, maski sa public school ka lamang nagtapos, may laban ka na sa buhay. At kung makapagtapos ka ng kolehiyo, madali kang makahanap ng trabaho. Kung magkasakit ka, maaasahan ang PGH o San Lazaro, o iba pang mga pagamutan at ospital na pinatatakbo ng pamahalaan. Hindi ka takot maglakad sa kalye maski gabi, dahil may katahimikan at kaayusan.

Parang naglaho na ang panahong iyon. Lalo nang mahirap para sa milyun-milyon pang mga “Mang Pandoy” ang magkaroon ng patas na laban sa kanilang buhay.

Gaming

I am writing this in Hong Kong, after spending two nights in Macau. I was there last year, and the year before that as well, but each year there are infrastructure developments that boggle the mind. Older friends who have been to Macau when it was yet a Portuguese colony, to attend the Macau Grand Prix, say that it is like comparing Cebu in the sixties to Las Vegas in the next ten or more years.

They just opened the Four Seasons Hotel at the Cotai Strip when I arrived. It sits within the Venetian Hotel and Grand Canal Shoppes complex that opened one year before. Months before, the MGM Casino Hotel was opened, and construction is going full blast on a Galaxy casino complex and a Sheraton Hotel.

The number of tourists who flock to this tiny delta at the mouth of the Pearl River is amazing. Majority are Chinese of course, from neighboring provinces like Guangdong, and of course the Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region. But high rollers who would not bat an eyelash if they lost ten million dollars in a night are flown in from Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo in increasing numbers.

So huge is the income from gaming that the Macanese have now been exempted from paying income taxes. Why squeeze your residents if foreigners are paying enough by gambling too much?

The Cotai development in Taipa island is already an expansion of Macau's gaming centers. Before the Venetian opened up its hotel-casino cum shopping center, everything was crammed into the old town, beside the old Lisboa Hotel of Stanley Ho. Now even Ho has had to build a major addition to his gaudy old casino, which is right across the beautiful Wynn Hotel, another Las Vegas import. From a gambling monopoly elicited from the Portuguese government, Ho has made a lot of money by selling and leasing real estate he wisely bought at the time when very few people went to Macau and China had yet to open its doors to the world.

In 1999, I approached then Philippine Estates Authority chairperson Frisco San Juan, and made a proposal. In the reclaimed portion of Manila Bay beside Roxas Boulevard, the PEA owned some forty or so hectares. Beside it, facing the bay, was the land owned by Henry Sy and facing the boulevard, land owned by George Ty of Metrobank. To the South, there were other lands also privately owned, as per reclamation agreements with the Ramos administration.

The proposal was for us to encourage then President Joseph Estrada to sell or lease the PEA lands to a Las Vegas-based casino enterprise, which shall become the core development of the then sparsely occupied reclamation area. Once the same was done, the lands of Sy and Ty and others will become sites for hotels, other casinos, and shopping centers. I even proposed the building of a monorail to the complex from the international airport. But the catch was that private enterprises, not the government-run Pagcor, should operate the casinos. Pagcor does not have the resources to build big-time, as its charter ensures that its earnings go to government or other earmarked charities, including the President's Social Fund. Pagcor, I maintained, should be a regulatory agency, and must not be into gaming operations itself.

I was then head of the Philippine Tourism Authority, and I realized the great lure for tourism that gaming had. I also took note of the fact that most high rollers in Vegas were actually Asian, and therefore they might be attracted to Vegas-managed casinos in a neighboring country like the Philippines.

But Estrada referred the idea to Pagcor, and it died a natural death there. Now Chairman Ephraim Genuino adopted the idea, ten years late. Within the same decade, Macau has grown and re-grown. In such a short span of time, beginning from the Sands of Las Vegas, Macau has overtaken everyone else as casino capital. In fact, the amount of money that pours into the gaming tables of Macau now outstrips all of Las Vegas gaming revenues. And families now go to Macau for entertainment other than gambling, much like Las Vegas itself.

And there seems to be no end in sight.

Nanglalaglag

Ngayong hindi talaga mabigyan ng magandang rasyonalisasyon ang pakiki­pag-kasunduan sa MILF ukol sa tinatawag na “ancestral domain”, at maski ang ilang mahistrado ng Korte Suprema ay hayagan nang

sinasabing labag sa Saligang Batas ang ilang mga probisyon ng MOA, ay makikitang nanglalaglag na si Donya Gloria ng kanyang mga tauhan.

Kung dati-rati’y pinagmamalaki pa na malapit na ang katahimikan at kapayapaan sa Mindanao, bungsod ng pakikipagkasundo, at ito’y mismong sa SONA pa binanggit ni GMA, ngayon ay umaatras. Para lamang hindi mahatulang labag sa Saligang Batas ang kanyang ginawa, na maaring maging dahilan upang siya ay makasuhang muli ng impeachment,

ipinalalabas ng Malacañang, sa pamamagitan ng kanilang tagapagsalita at ng Solicitor General, na walang kinalaman si GMA sa usaping iyon at sa MOA na pinag-kasunduan.

Ang ibig ba nilang sabihin, gawa-gawa lamang ni Rodolfo Garcia at ni Hermogenes Esperon ang MOA na ito? Na mangangahas ang dalawang ito na pumirma para sa Republika ng Pilipinas na walang kaalaman at pahintulot ng kanilang pangulo? Sino naman ang maniniwala sa ganyang hibla ng kwento?

E ayun nga at sa dayuhang bansa pa gagawin sana ang paglagda sa kasunduan, at nangumbida pa ng mga embahador, tulad ni Kristie Kenny ng Estados Unidos, at maging embahador ng Hapon at Australia. At mismong Foreign Minister pa ng Malaysia ang siyang lalagda bilang testigo. Kung nagkatuluyan ang paglagda, tali na tayo sa kasunduang ito,

at maski na maghabla ang MILF sa United Nations, o sa International Court of Justice, e talo tayo, dahil doon ay hindi kinikilala ang dahilang labag sa sarili nating Saligang Batas. E labag pala, bakit kayo nakipagkasundo? Oras na makipagkasundo ka, tali ka na sa kasunduang iyon.

Kaya nga ngayon ay iginigiit ng MILF na dahil may mga initials na sina Garcia at Esperon, ay “done deal” na raw. Kaya’t pilit nilang sinasabing may kasunduan na at dapat natin itong ipatupad.

Maging ang pag-atake nina Bravo at Kato ay hindi maaaring idahilan upang hindi sundin ang kasunduan, kung nagkapirmahan nga. Mabuti na lang at pinigil ng Korte Suprema, at hindi nagkatuluyan.

Pero ngayon, dinideklara ni Solgen Agnes Devanadera na hindi pipirmahan ang kasunduan, ano mang porma meron ito. Nais lang niyang iligtas ang kanyang among si Donya Gloria sa posibleng basehan para sa

impeachment. Ang laro ng Malacañang ay ideklara na lamang na “moot and academic” ang isyu, at huwag nang hatulan na ito ay labag sa Saligang Batas, tutal ay hindi nagkatuluyan, at ngayon ay sinasabi ni Donya Gloriang hindi na niya itutuloy.

Paano ngayon ang magiging posisyon ng MILF? E niloloko lang pala sila ng pamahalaan ni Donya Gloria? Pinasakay, pagkatapos, umatras at nagpakatalusira. Siguradong matapos ang Ramadan, lalong sisilakbo ang gulo sa Mindanao. Talagang napariwara ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang buong bansa, at isinadlak sa gulong kay hirap ngayong resolbahin. Sa wikang Ingles, ito ay “treason”, na sa ating pananalita ay pagiging traydor sa bayan.

What a big mess

See what this enterprise of incompetence our peace negotiators under the baton of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has wrought upon our nation? Now the lumads, our indigenous tribes in Mindanao, from Atas to Bagobos to Manobos to Higaonons to Subanens, also want the same kind of terms given the Moros. If the lumads have the kind of armed strength that the MILF has, they could well threaten this "strong" republic of Doña Gloria and Senor Esperon as well. That means all of Mindanao will be lost to the "strong" republic. What a big mess.

And soon, every ethno-linguistic group in this country will want their own "body part" removed from the "strong republic." Well, maybe all she wants is to head the Republic of Pampanga. I'm sure the king and queen of jueteng "bolitas" and the king and prince of "balas", or bato't buhangin from Pinatubo, will willingly oblige.

One thing that bugs me about this separatist binge though is, who's going to pay the national debt? The national debt, both foreign and domestic that has ballooned during the term of Doña Gloria? How do we divide the debt pile? Maybe we can inventory the kilometers of roads and bridges financed by public borrowing, and charge each federal state accordingly. Maybe. But what about the kurakot - the commissions, the "tongpats", the kickback, which in this particular reign has exceeded all public endurance, bigger than the real cost of projects? Can we charge all that to the Republic of Pampanga?

If we did that, why the Kapampangans will kick out their presidenta ning kabalen, faster than the Pinedas are trying to get barangay signatures to recall Among Ed.

Meanwhile, Vince Lazatin of Pera at Pulitika, a non-governmental organization that undertook the tedious job of monitoring actual broadcast minutes in the 2007 electoral campaign, has come out with a potentially lethal report. Lazatin, whose family name is highly regarded by Kapampangans, lists the big spenders whose accumulated air time for political advertising on television and radio, exceeded the legal limit of 120 minutes for TV and 180 minutes for radio.

Among the big spenders in 2007 are losers Prospero Pichay, the former OWWA administrator-pretender since reduced to LWUA appointee by his beloved Boss Woman Gloria, Miguelito el Defensor, as well as winners Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara, Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda. They or their campaign handlers bought more time than was allowable under the Fair Election Law.

Now Ferdinand Rafanan, who heads the Comelec's legal department, reminds us that apart from fines and jail sentences, the violators could be dealt with a lethal blow, which is perpetual disqualification from holding public office. So what is he waiting for?

Dura lex sed lex, right? All the Comelec has to do is ask Pera at Pulitika, through Vince Lazatin, who has been a consistent anti-corruption crusader, to show their records. They could likewise ask Nielsen to produce their monitoring sheets. It should be fairly easy to do real accounting of actual air time versus what the candidates submitted to the Comelec under oath. It should be such a relief to the country if for once, the Comelec showed real resolve to get our election laws followed, no matter who gets hurt.

In any case, voters come 2010 and even beyond, should remember who the transgressors of election spending limits are. Kung sa ganyan, nagpapalusot, what more when it comes to public funds? Di palulusutan din tayo.

Meanwhile, the once humongous Lakas, the party that catapulted Doña Gloria to power, and which of late has been treated like a leprous third-class citizen in the administration coalition of kakampis and sipsips, has been trying to bellow political noise. Except hardly anyone has noticed.

Lakas factotum Rey Roquero bragged about their multi-faceted presidential bevy, such as Gilbert Teodoro, who's NPC, and even Ephraim Genuino, whose party is a gambling empire. Maybe Roquero is saying that if jueteng lords can lord it over the Pampanga Republic, why not a big-time casino lord to lord it over the Philippine Republic? May konting logic nga naman.

As if for consuelo de bobo, Roquero mentions Bayani Fernando of Marikina and the pink tarpaulins, as well as Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City and the Philippine Star. And then Vice-President Noli de Castro, who simply refuses to bite the Lakas "apple".

And now, Ed Malay, FVR's spokesman, lists down senatorial hopefuls for 2010, again trying to get the nation to take notice of their once humongous, now limping, Lakas. And who are in his list?

There's the VAT champion, now NEDA director general Ralph Recto. Last time I knew, he listed down his party as Nacionalista. Also Juan Ponce Enrile, an incumbent senator, who won with the colors of Erap's PMP wrapped around him in 2004. And Miriam Defensor Santiago, who has her own party of one, PRP, which in 2004 coalesced with the K-4 of Dona Gloria's cheating enterprise. Jun Magsaysay, the twice-elected senator who as far as I know now sports the Liberal Party tag. Even Lito Atienza, three-term mayor of the City of Manila, who has always been a Liberal, even if Mar Roxas considers him outside the kulambo. And Edu Manzano, the nemesis of DVD-DVD, whose party is more Kapamilya than Lakas.

So sino ang totoong Lakas? Well, Malay mentions Jose de Venecia, the speaker who has yet to speak the unspeakable. And Bong Revilla, the incumbent senator.

But why isn't Lakas mentioning any cabinet member other than Ralph Recto, who is not even certifiably Lakas? Is this like saying they will divorce themselves, finally, from being kakampi of Dona Gloria?

But wait? What about Prospero Pichay? Has Lakas forgotten their loyalist from Surigao and all the vegetable patches of the land? Ni-luwa na nga ni Gloria sa OWWA, pinalulunok and LWUA, niluwa ang LWUA, ngayon, niluluwa pa ng Lakas? Ang sama nyo naman.

Meanwhile, the top sachem of Kampi, Doña Gloria's party, who is concurrently DILG secretary, has been quietly moving around, while his boys move stealthily towards "RP 2010".

RP 2010? That's Ronnie Puno for 2010.

Unbelievable? Well, stranger things have happened in these benighted isles.