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How graft raps end up in PH

How graft raps end up in PH

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Supreme Court

GOTCHA

written on June 3, 2022

 

The Supreme Court recently upheld the dismissal of a two-star general for his role in the 2009 police chopper scam. Herold Ubalde was a one-star general when fired by the Ombudsman in 2012. Reason: serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the service.

Ubalde was head of Legal Services when the PNP purchased three helicopters for P105 million. Specifications were for fully-equipped brand-new police models. Two turned out to be repainted civilian units used for five years by then-first gentleman Mike Arroyo. The deal was first exposed in this column.

The SC ruling on Ubalde was dated March 28, 2022 but publicized only on May 20. He was among 14 officers administratively sanctioned by the Ombudsman in 2012. Also dismissed with forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetually barred from public office were corporals, sergeants, majors, colonels and generals: Leocadio Santiago Jr., George Piano, Job Nolan Antonio, Edgar Paatan, Mansue Lukban, Claudio Gaspar Jr., Luis Saligumba, Ermilando Villafuerte, Roman Loreto, Ma. Josefina Reco, Ma. Linda Padojinog, Avensuel Dy and Ruben Gongona.

The SC affirmed their punishments in 2018 but exonerated Padojinog this week. With 19 other civilians and police brass, they are still being tried at the Sandiganbayan for criminal charges of graft.

Mike Arroyo recently was removed from the roster of those criminally accused. The SC ordered the Sandiganbayan to “drop Arroyo from the information… in the criminal case… at any stage of the proceedings.” The Ombudsman prosecutor failed to establish probable cause, the SC ruled: “The element of conspiracy with a public officer was not established.”

Arroyo had claimed in defense that he was a stranger to the PNP’s helicopter seller. The choppers were transacted by his family-owned LTA Inc. in 2003, when his brother Ignacio Arroyo was president. He alleged to have divested from the firm before then. Ignacio died in January 2012, four months before the criminal raps were filed.

The SC clearance of Arroyo was dated Dec. 1, 2021 but released only last Holy Week, April 10. Trial goes on of the co-accused.

There must be a lesson there for Li’l Injuns tempted to sin.

*      *      *

The SC recently affirmed the imprisonment of NBN-ZTE whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada for graft. He will be behind bars for six to ten years. “But I have no regret for telling the truth,” he declared.

Lozada was among the main witnesses against the overpriced national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp. First exposed in this column in March 2007, the equipment and services were for $130 million but padded with $200-million (P10-billion) kickback. In the ensuing Senate inquiry, whistleblowers implicated then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, first gentleman Mike Arroyo and then-Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos.

Five months later, Lozada surfaced to solidify the testimonies. Rejecting bribes of cash and emigration, then escaping abduction to silence him, he detailed how economic secretary Romulo Neri was arm-twisted to grant ZTE the deal. He was then president of state-owned Philippine Forest Corp.

The Ombudsman indicted the Arroyos and Abalos before the Sandiganbayan in 2012. Also that year Lozada and his brother were accused of graft in a PFC woodland lease. Main witness against Lozada was his former program manager, whom Malacañang appointed to replace him.

The Sandiganbayan convicted the Lozadas in 2016. That same year, the anti-graft court absolved the Arroyos and Abalos.

The Lozadas appealed the sentencing all the way to the SC. In July 2021 the SC upheld the jail term, but publicized it only last March.

“My enemies threatened to make me regret telling the truth,” Lozada told me then. “Yes, they succeeded in sending me to prison, but they failed to buy my soul.”

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

A new international airport 20 minutes from Luneta

A new international airport 20 minutes from Luneta

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Manila International Airport

GOTCHA

written on June 1, 2022

 

The departing administration now wants to sell the old Manila International Airport. The prime property can repay a big chunk of the P7.5-trillion public debt it racked up in six years. That sale should have commenced years ago. MIA is hopelessly congested. Middle class subdivisions cannot be relocated, thus its shelved P100-billion expansion and T-shaped runway extension.

Yet the admin dawdled. Nearly a billion pesos was spent to facelift one terminal, the same amount to replace baggage conveyor in another and still the same amount to move light cargo planes to Sangley Point 28 kms away. The aged aerodrome only earned bad aviation and travel reviews, recently as the world’s worst for business-class passengers. Rains flood up the Sangley runway.

All that time, San Miguel Corp. was proposing to use its own P740 billion to build a New MIA on its land in Bulacan. Although franchised by Congress for 50 years to build and operate the NMIA, interminable bureaucratic requirements kept delaying groundbreaking. Will the incoming admin see things clearer?

Newsbits on SMC’s project whet investor and tourist interest. The 2,500-hectare site will have four parallel runways, plus space for two more. Briefing columnists Monday, SMC president-CEO Ramon S. Ang arithmetized what the first two runways alone can accommodate. “Let’s be conservative, with only 250 passengers per flight:” 250 x 50 take-offs and landings per hour x 2 runways x 24 hours a day x 365 days a year = 219,000,000 passengers a year. Four-and-a-half times the old MIA’s maximum of 47 million. A big boost to tourism, travel and trade. Frequent fliers Ang and his team prioritize safety, security, on-time reliability, comfort and convenience.

How far from Manila? “Twenty minutes from Kilometer 0, Rizal Monument, on a 16-km elevated coastal highway,” Ang beamed. Highways will connect NMIA to Luzon’s many tollways; SMC’s Metro Rail Transit-7 will loop through it.

Last week, the Dutch government approved an export credit insurance of 1.5 billion euros (P84 billion) for land development by Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. Before that, Atradius Dutch State Business and four international consultancies reviewed onsite for a year NMIA’s long-term environmental and social impact mitigation measures. The 90-year-old agency’s insurance covers compensation for adverse effects. “This shows that our environmental and social mitigation plans are not only sound but robust, given they can pass international standards and the exacting requirements of the Dutch government,” Ang said.

The departing administration now wants to sell the old Manila International Airport. The prime property can repay a big chunk of the P7.5-trillion public debt it racked up in six years. That sale should have commenced years ago. MIA is hopelessly congested. Middle class subdivisions cannot be relocated, thus its shelved P100-billion expansion and T-shaped runway extension.

Yet the admin dawdled. Nearly a billion pesos was spent to facelift one terminal, the same amount to replace baggage conveyor in another and still the same amount to move light cargo planes to Sangley Point 28 kms away. The aged aerodrome only earned bad aviation and travel reviews, recently as the world’s worst for business-class passengers. Rains flood up the Sangley runway.

All that time, San Miguel Corp. was proposing to use its own P740 billion to build a New MIA on its land in Bulacan. Although franchised by Congress for 50 years to build and operate the NMIA, interminable bureaucratic requirements kept delaying groundbreaking. Will the incoming admin see things clearer?

Newsbits on SMC’s project whet investor and tourist interest. The 2,500-hectare site will have four parallel runways, plus space for two more. Briefing columnists Monday, SMC president-CEO Ramon S. Ang arithmetized what the first two runways alone can accommodate. “Let’s be conservative, with only 250 passengers per flight:” 250 x 50 take-offs and landings per hour x 2 runways x 24 hours a day x 365 days a year = 219,000,000 passengers a year. Four-and-a-half times the old MIA’s maximum of 47 million. A big boost to tourism, travel and trade. Frequent fliers Ang and his team prioritize safety, security, on-time reliability, comfort and convenience.

How far from Manila? “Twenty minutes from Kilometer 0, Rizal Monument, on a 16-km elevated coastal highway,” Ang beamed. Highways will connect NMIA to Luzon’s many tollways; SMC’s Metro Rail Transit-7 will loop through it.

Last week, the Dutch government approved an export credit insurance of 1.5 billion euros (P84 billion) for land development by Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. Before that, Atradius Dutch State Business and four international consultancies reviewed onsite for a year NMIA’s long-term environmental and social impact mitigation measures. The 90-year-old agency’s insurance covers compensation for adverse effects. “This shows that our environmental and social mitigation plans are not only sound but robust, given they can pass international standards and the exacting requirements of the Dutch government,” Ang said.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Dar signs last-minute fish imports from China

Dar signs last-minute fish imports from China

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

photo from Philippine News Agency

GOTCHA

written on May 27, 2022

 

For the third quarter in a row, Agriculture Secretary William Dar is importing fish from China. He invokes low domestic catch. Filipino fishers belie him.

The “midnight madness” goes on, laments Sen. Imee Marcos, head of the economic affairs committee. Co-terminus on June 30 with President Rodrigo Duterte, Dar reportedly is seeking reappointment under President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Dar authorized on Monday the import of 38,695 tons of galunggong (round scad), sardines and mackerel. Those 38,695,000 kilos will be retailed in public markets, to the detriment of local catchers and growers. A banyera (tub) of fish is 30 kilos.

Dar bypassed the multi-sectoral National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council. The Fisheries Code requires the Dept. of Agriculture to consult that highest policy recommending body on matters affecting stakeholders. Dar’s import order was not tabled in the last NFARMC meeting on April 29, said NGO rep Dennis Calvan and commercial fleet rep Jaydrick Yap.

The 38,695 tons is the balance of the 60,000 tons that Dar authorized for import in 1st-quarter 2022. Commercial fleet owners, artisanal fishermen, tilapia and bangus growers, academics and NGO leaders in NFARMC had opposed that 60,000 tons to begin with. There was no fish shortage then, as now. But Dar invoked typhoon Odette damage in Visayas and Mindanao to bring in fish from China. “The fish are still in our seas,” remarked Sen. Cynthia Villar then as head of the agriculture committee. “Just help fishermen repair wrecked bancas.”

Dar also ordered 62,000 tons import in 4th-quarter 2021, invoking the yearend commercial fishing ban. Fleet owners, small fishers and growers recommended only 30,000 tons at most, but were ignored. Pens and ponds were brimming with tilapia and bangus for the Christmas season; rotational harvests were good for seven months, aquaculturist Norbert Chingcuanco recalls.

True enough, importers were able to fill up only half of the 62,000 tons. Still, Dar ordered another 60,000. Importers brought in only 21,305. Now he wants 38,695 tons more, supposedly because of the June-July fishing ban in the Davao seas. Two-month fishing bans have been in force rotationally for years in regional waters, without need for imports.

The South China Sea fishing season is December to June. Chinese poachers take advantage. In December 2020, thousands of Chinese maritime militia trawlers started trespassing the waters of Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In March 2021, more than 300 were spotted massing at the Philippines’ Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef in Pagkakaisa (Union) Bank. Reinforced by dozens more, they then spread out to Pagasa Isles and Recto (Reed) Bank, all within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Unprotected against Chinese gunboats, Filipino catch in the West Philippine Sea has dwindled.

Dar invokes slight increases in retail rates for his latest imports: bangus to P180 from P160 and Indian mackerel to P300 from P260 a kilo. But prices of tilapia, galunggong, sardines, bonito, tanigue and other varieties of tuna and mackerel remain stable.

Citing fisheries sources, Senator Marcos says soaring fuel rates are to blame for fish price spikes, not shortage.

Seafoods are imported at zero duties and taxes, says fleet operator and wholesaler Paul Santos. Only P500 per ton is collected as administrative charge.

Smugglers use fish as front in cargo containers for high-duty poultry, pork and beef. “The entry of chicken and meat at the piers is nonstop,” says Rosendo So, chairman of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura.

Sugarcane planters are also groaning. The DA reportedly let in 200 containers of sugar for one drink company alone, in the middle of the milling season. The DA also allows vegetable and fruit imports. This breeds large-scale smuggling, injuring growers in Benguet, Central Luzon, Mindoro and Mindanao. Dar snubbed all three investigative hearings by the Senate Committee of the Whole on agricultural smuggling last March-April.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Resume the drug war – scientifically this time

Resume the drug war – scientifically this time

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of drug war

GOTCHA

written on July 1, 2022

 

Ending the shabu scourge remains top priority. A society softened by addiction cannot progress. The previous admin admitted failure of its promised drug war. The new one must avoid past mistakes.

The campaign flopped because driven by dazzle and not data. Planning was haphazard. Malacañang trumpeted to wipe out shabu lords in three months, then six months, then one year. None of the deadlines was met.

Four of five supposed syndicate bosses were slain: two in prison, the third in police custody and the fourth in a raid. The last, close to higher-ups, was spared. Narcs dismantled dozens of shabu laboratories in rented mansions with swimming pools, penthouse condos and huge piggeries. Police barged into shanties or busted pushers in the streets. Thousands were killed following a pattern: “nanlaban (they resisted)”, pulling out rusty 38 caliber revolvers from basketball shorts when cornered.

Crime-riddled streets turned quiet. Over a million confessed addicts surrendered to barangay officials. But there was no rehab plan at all. After half-day lectures under the sun, they were told to go home and sin no more. Left unused was a multi-story halfway house hurriedly built inside a military camp by a Chinese donor who turned out to be in the government’s very drug watchlist.

The demand-side of the narco-trade remained. Yet authorities could not agree on figures. The policy-making Dangerous Drugs Board estimated addicts to number 1.6 million. Its Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and deputized Philippine National Police counted 3.2 million. Wars are lost on miscalculations.

The supply-side went on too. Shabu continued to be smuggled by the tons in ports or dropped shipside in isolated islands. Contraband slipped past Customs inside metal printing cylinders and magnetic lifters, or concealed in cargo containers of tapioca starch and tea bags.

Malacañang and its enforcers could not see their mistakes. Hunger for publicity blinded them. They kept top billing the tens to hundreds of millions of pesos worth of shabu they confiscated in street buy-busts. More so, the billions in cash of bulks they interdicted in warehouses.

But peso values were inaccurate measures of success. Those values fluctuate depending on smuggling arrivals and location of seizure. A freshly delivered kilo-bag (1000 grams) of shabu may fetch P10 million for gangsters in Bicol or the Visayas, where they have fewer provincial sub-dealers and street-pushers to sell to fewer addicts. Yet even only a tenth of that volume in 100 one-gram sachets peddled by a grandmother can command the same P10 million in Metro Manila, where there are more cops on the lookout. Enforcers craved media headlines for nabbing without understanding the fluctuations.

After each such multimillion-peso success, vice squad leaders wrote up self-commendatory reports for promotion. As they rose in rank, they “intensified” the drug war for still higher promotion.

The better success measure should be the volume of shabu versus the number of addicts. Authorities should seize more supply to make it prohibitive for addicts – assuming the latter finish months-long rehab.

Only once did the PDEA summarize its data – in #RealNumbersPH, July 1, 2016-June 30, 2019. Stated among others was that 4,409 kilos of shabu were seized in those three years. Its value of P34.75 billion is irrelevant.

Days after PDEA released the report in November 2019, the PNP-Drug Enforcement Group reiterated what it was up against. Three million addicts each snort one gram of shabu per week. That’s a staggering three million grams or 3,000 kilos a week. The value of that shabu market is P25 billion a week, PNP-DEG said. That’s why criminals persist in narco-trafficking.

Analyzing the PDEA and PNP-DEG data showed a dismal success rate. In the 156 weeks of July 2016-June 2019, the government had seized only one-and-a-half week’s consumption of shabu. That was at the cost of nearly 6,000 drug lords, pushers – and lawmen – killed.

As far back as April 2019, Malacañang surrendered: “The shabu problem was swallowing the country.” Thereafter, raids and buy-busts continued here and there – still highlighting the irrelevant street values instead of the volumes.

If the drug war must resume, it should be scientific this time. (Read also “Report volume, not value of shabu interdictions”, Gotcha, 4 Dec. 2019: https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/12/04/1974051/report-volume-not-value-shabu-interdictions

                                                   

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Scrap unreliable VCMs for credible elections

Scrap unreliable VCMs for credible elections

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of vote counting machine

GOTCHA

written on May 25, 2022

 

Secret balloting, open counting. A flawed election automation violates that. Comelec chose an opaque system in 2010 then reused it in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. Scientists question the process. Manipulation and malicious software are suspected. Yet laymen accept the magical results. Few candidates complain as the Automated Election Law gives them little room for it.

Doubts will stay unless the system is replaced. The tech involves secret balloting and more secret counting at precincts. Thus the transmission and canvassing of municipal, city, provincial, district and national totals are also disbelieved.

Restore manual balloting and counting at precincts, election experts and infotechnologists long advocate. Automate only transmission and canvassing. That way every voter can ensure that his and his precinct’s votes are properly counted.

There was no cheating in the old manual balloting. Precincts consisted of only 200 voters – from the same household, compound, street block. Knowing each other they dared not risk ostracism for cheating. (Vote-buying and coercion are factors external to the balloting and counting.)

Counting commenced upon close of balloting. Three teachers from the community school read aloud the ballots and marked on the blackboard a stick per vote. Party reps, poll watchdogs and voters observed. It took two to five hours, including answering questions and snack breaks. The election return (ER) was filled up and signed. (This is still done in barangay elections.)

If re-adopted, the public count can use new techs. Mobile phones can livestream the proceedings to home viewers.

In the old days, after the precinct count, ballot boxes were brought to municipal or city hall for canvassing. Goons snatch the boxes en route. At canvassing centers, moneyed candidates bribed for large-scale “dagdag-bawas” (vote padding-shaving) by the hundred-thousands or millions. Party treasurers choppered sacks of cash to the canvassers – municipal/city/provincial treasurers and Comelec counterparts. Highest bidders won. In 1995, senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel was the first victim of such operation.

No need to physically transport the ballots under automated transmission. Teachers will just beam the ERs for national and local canvassing. Party reps and watchdogs will send the same results to their respective HQs. Voters can check online if Comelec properly encoded the votes in their precincts. Senate President Tito Sotto has filed a hybrid election law for this purpose.

Aside from opacity, the hard and software are too costly. Leasing one vote counting machine cost P123,711 in 2016, or P12 billion for 97,000 VCMs. This 2022, Comelec leased 10,000 more for P864 million or P86,402 apiece.

Each of the 413,000 precincts needs one VCM. But due to prohibitiveness, Comelec clustered the precincts into four per VCM, each serving at least 800 voters (106,000 VCMs were used; 1,000 on standby). Lacking VCMs, voters must queue for hours in the summer heat to cast their ballot.

There are hidden costs. VCM refurbishing: P10,272.74 per unit or P1 billion for the 97,000 old units reused in 2022. Warehousing: P140 million a year. Accessorizing: P1 billion per election.

Automating only the transmission and canvassing would delete those costs. Only laptops and transmission routers would be needed at the precincts – for donation to public schools after use. Central, backup and transmission servers for canvassing are affordable.

Hybrid elections will be manageable. Five Comelec chairmen presided over the five automated elections from 2010 to 2022. No Implementing Rules and Regulations have been drafted for the 2008 AES Law. Comelec merely issues resolutions and general instructions, modified or repealed for every balloting. Result: inconsistency and breaches of that law.

In 2010, due to spotty VCM source code review, Comelec had to replace 97,000 corrupted SD cards and the same number of backup memory cards two weeks before E-Day. The random manual audit showed 0.4-percent variance from the machine count, representing more than 900,000 votes. Thereafter precincts for RMA were no longer publicly picked by tambiolo but by selection app.

In 2013, Ateneo University Mathematics Prof. Felix Muga, PhD, questioned the improbable 60-30-10 senatorial trend. From start to finish, administration bets consistently got 60 percent of votes; opposition, 30 percent; independents, 10 percent.

In 2016, VP candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. alleged fraudulent count in his election defeat and protest. That year too, Sen. Richard Gordon had to ask the Supreme Court to force Comelec to issue voter receipts, as required by the AES Law that he authored.

This year, at least six law provisions were unmet. The required digital signatures of teachers were only partially used. Unexplained was the 68:32 presidential trend from start to finish. Also that the winning president and VP candidates each got more votes than the first ranking senatorial aspirant. A first in Philippine elections.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Okay, city boys, start planting, raising fish

Okay, city boys, start planting, raising fish

by | Apr 13, 2023 | Gotcha

stock image

GOTCHA

written on May 20, 2022

 

City dwellers are mocking Agriculture Secretary William Dar. With looming global food crisis he exhorted Filipinos, including urbanites, to plant, fish and raise animals. Cosmopolites are adept in trades and professions, but inexpert in farming, aquaculture and livestock. They live in cramped apartments or condos. “Where will I raise my favorite foods – shrimps and pork?” quipped a broadcaster. Most cities forbid raising of food animals.

The only farmers, fish and animal raisers in cities are those who fled rural penury. They’ve turned to odd jobs. Wives work as housemaids. Dar’s four years of agricultural over-importing drove them out of work. Smuggling of grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, pork and poultry further worsened their plight. National and local governments took too long to help them rebuild homes, farms, fishpens, boats and barns wrecked by typhoons. The average age of Filipino farmers is 60.

Dar attributes the impending food shortage to the pandemic, the Ukraine war and surging oil prices. COVID-19 slowed down global trade, including of farm machineries, animal feeds and ingredients, aquaculture and fishing implements.

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to fertilizer shortage worldwide. Fertilizer’s main component is nitrogen derived from natural gas, of which Ukraine is among the largest producers. With Ukrainian gasfields idled, farmers around the world are stockpiling what’s left.

The war delayed the planting of wheat, of which Ukraine again and surrounding countries are the main producers. The UN forecasts a global shortage. People will shift to other grains as staple, primarily rice. Rich countries will buy up stocks from India and Southeast Asia. Poor Philippines will be elbowed out of the queue. ASEAN friends will be unable to help. Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, the usual rice suppliers to the Philippines, are suffering reduced harvests. Thirteen dams in China divert water from the Mekong River, greatly reducing farm and fishpond output in the delta and other plains downstream.

Fertilizer rates in the Philippines already had doubled before the pandemic. Hardly any help came from the government. The Ukraine war further pushed up prices. Still no action. The Rice Tariffication Law of 2019 failed to bring down prices to pre-2016 levels, the Federation of Free Farmers laments.

When African Swine Fever struck Luzon, Dar massively imported pork but at reduced tariff. Ignored were hog-raisers who needed the collections to cover their costs of replacing diseased stocks. When poultry prices rose due to expensive feeds and electricity, Dar massively imported chicken, again at low duties. The domestic industry suffered.

At the onset of the 2021 yearend fishing ban, Dar insisted on importing fish from China, hundreds of thousands of tons. Opposition from commercial fleet owners, artisanal fishermen and fish growers was ignored. Pens and ponds were brimming with tilapia and bangus good for seven months. When Super Typhoon Odette hit the Visayas and Mindanao in the first quarter of 2022, Dar again insisted on importing more fish from China, supposedly “to increase production.” No one thought of helping fisherfolk repair broken bancas.

Vegetable smuggling from China demoralized local growers. They had to throw away millions of kilos of produce because of the unfair competition and costly transportation. In the ensuing Senate investigative hearings, all snubbed by Dar, he was revealed to be applying for reappointment in the next administration. He now hails as doable that next admin’s promise of P20-rice, something he never achieved to begin with.

Filipinos suffered rice shortage in the early years of martial law, 1973-74. Rich and poor queued to buy stocks mixed with ground corn. To avert a repeat, Dar wants to increase the National Food Authority buffer stocks from seven to 30 days. Good idea. A city boy planting rice in his living room would take a hundred days to harvest.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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All materials contained on this site are protected by the Republic of the Phlippines copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of jariusbondoc.com or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download material from jariusbondoc.com on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

If you wish to use jariusbondoc.com content for commercial purposes, such as for content syndication etc., please contact us at jariusbondoconline@gmail.com.

Links to Websites other than those owned by jariusbondoc.com are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of jariusbondoc.com was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

 

III. TERMS OF SERVICE

 

  1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

 

1.1 If you choose to use the jariusbondoc.com service (the “Service”), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement between you and jariusbondoc.com (“jariusbondoc.com “).

 

1.2 jariusbondoc.com may change, add or remove portions of this Agreement at any time, but if it does so, it will post such changes on the Service, or send them to you via e-mail. It is your responsibility to review this Agreement prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes.

 

1.3 If any of these rules or any future changes are unacceptable to you, you may cancel your membership by sending e-mail to jariusbondoconline.com (see section 10.1 regarding termination of service). Your continued use of the service now, or following the posting of notice of any changes in these operating rules, will indicate acceptance by you of such rules, changes, or modifications.

 

1.4 jariusbondoc.com may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any Service feature, database, or content. jariusbondoc.com may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

 

  1. JARIUSBONDOC.COM CONTENT AND MEMBER SUBMISSIONS

 

2.1 The contents of the jariusbondoc.com are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on jariusbondoc.com (including, but not limited to news articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the “Content”) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by jariusbondoc.com or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

 

2.2 The Service and its Contents are protected by copyright pursuant to the Republic of the Philippines and international copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of this Agreement), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part.

 

2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from jariusbondoc.com or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

 

  1. FORUMS, DISCUSSIONS AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

 

3.1 You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish on the message boards (the “Feedback Section”) any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

 

3.2 (a)Be courteous. You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse jariusbondoc.com columnists and other jariusbondoc.com community Members, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or “spam.”

 

3.2 (b) Use respectful language. Like any community, the Feedback Sections will flourish only when our Members feel welcome and safe. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. Hate speech of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.2 (c) Debate, but don’t attack. In a community full of opinions and preferences, people always disagree. jariusbondoc.com encourages active discussions and welcomes heated debate in our Feedback Sections. But personal attacks are a direct violation of this Agreement and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.3 The Feedback Sections shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of jariusbondoc.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services.

 

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. However, while jariusbondoc.com does not and cannot review every message posted by you on the Forums and is not responsible for the content of these messages, jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to delete, move, or edit messages that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

 

3.5 You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Service (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by jariusbondoc.com and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant jariusbondoc.com a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for jariusbondoc.com or any third party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to jariusbondoc.com or any other website owned by it, including any Submission posted on jariusbondoc.com through a third party.

 

3.6 By submitting an entry to jariusbondoc.com’s Readers’ Corner, you are consenting to its display on the site and for related online and offline promotional uses.

 

  1. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE AND LINKS

 

4.1 jariusbondoc.com contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors of jariusbondoc.com. Since jariusbondoc.com is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or Webmaster of such site.

 

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

5.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless jariusbondoc.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. jariusbondoc.com reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

 

5.2 jariusbondoc.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JARIUSBONDOC.COM AND MEMBERS

 

6.1 If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, jariusbondoc.com, its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and services.

 

6.2 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Service.

 

6.3 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on our Web site may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy of jariusbondoc.com.

 

6.4 jariusbondoc.com may contact you via e-mail regarding your participation in user surveys, asking for feedback on the Website and existing or prospective products and services. This information will be used to improve our Website and better understand our users, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.

 

  1. TERMINATION

 

 

7.1 jariusbondoc.com may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of this Agreement.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

8.1 This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the Republic of the Philippines law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the courts located in Manila, Philippines.

 

8.2 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in jariusbondoc.com Privacy Policy.

 

8.3 Correspondence should be sent to jariusbondoconline.com.

 

8.4 You agree to report any copyright violations of the Terms of Service to jariusbondoc.com as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained in the jariusbondoc.com service, please notify jariusbondoconline.com. This Terms of Service was last updated on November 7, 2020.