Select Page
Christmas in our isles, same time next year

Christmas in our isles, same time next year

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

photo from Philippine News Agency

GOTCHA

written on December 24, 2021

 

(First published 1978 in TV Times magazine; last of two parts)

How we look forward to the holidays, whence we find reason to give and receive, forgive and forget, drink and be merry. How we fill it with meaning and message for young and old. How we see in celebration new blessing and renewal to spice up our workaday lives. Life in our isles without Christmas is unimaginable.

Dec. 24 and 31 are the season’s busiest days – preparing food for the coming feasts. In Barrio Capulaan, Villasis, Pangasinan, the womenfolk cook a black-rice delicacy, deremen or inlubi. Young glutinous palay, still milky in the chaff, is burnt over smoldering bamboo halves. While still hot, the palay is pestled and winnowed clean of chaff. Children gather round as the women sway to the strum of a coconut shell fiddle, cutibeng.

Laboriously-prepared Yuletide fare are never laid to waste. Families partake of the Dec. 24 Noche Buena and Dec. 31 Media Noche in superstitious solemnity. The affairs signify thanksgiving, solidarity, prosperity. During family reunions, among Tagalogs, the most prosperous tio or tia shower coins as children and adults scramble for possession. The coins, or sura, are kept for good luck.

The inventory of Yuletide food conjures many a childhood memory: jamon, queso de bola, suman, malagkit, salabat, tsokolate. In pre-inflation times, castañas and grapes were found on tables of middle-class families. These days they are content with undersized apples and oranges, kiat-kiat.

Christmas food varies by region. Northern Luzon folk have kilawen, papaitan, lechon kawali, dinaldalem, kaldereta and pacpac (crispy fried pig ears), along with delicacies linapet, tupig, bibingka, kaskaron and tamales nga ipon. Warays and Bicolanos prepare humba, dinuguan, adobo, balisoso and ibos. In Panay, Noche Buena is never complete without puto-puti, kalamay-hati, bandi and baebae. Misamis holiday fare consists of sotanghon with torta, kalderetang kambing, yema and pastillas. In Cebu haleyang ube, morcon and biko top off the meal. Liquor is present in all. The overflow of food and wine is directly proportionate to the amount of Christmas bonus.

Christmas and New Year come with a bang. Filipinos blend the merriment of Christmas with the noisemaking of New Year. Midnight sparklers, bamboo cannons, fireworks greet both days.

As merrymaking dies down, children gather round the Christmas tree to open presents from parents, ninong, ninang –sometimes from Santa Claus and the Three Kings, though they’re not very popular among country bumpkins.

Province kids spend Christmas and New Year visiting relatives and godparents who might have forgotten to deliver gifts. Benefit balls are held at the town plaza on the night of the 25th or the 1st by religious and civic organizations. Teenagers and olds display the latest dance craze from Manila.

Non-Christians observe the season too. Igorots of Sinapaoan and Bantinan, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, celebrate Christmas Eve with a much awaited cañao. Food and rice wine, tapuy, spice up a night of dancing. Festivity starts with the chieftain summoning elders to a palaver where richer clansmen are tapped to shoulder feasting expenses. They donate cows, pigs, rice, ubi and jars of aged tapuy.

To the Kalasan of Aritao, Christmas is a communal affair. Family heads contribute cash or kind. Girls decorate the chieftain’s house and premises with flowering vine gathered from the forest. After an intoxicated ritual of chanting and dancing, they dine as a community.

Mindanao Muslims observe Maulid un Nabi, Birth of the Prophet. Like Christmas of Christians, it is for them a season for forgiveness. Jealousies and grievances are deferred; an atmosphere of generosity pervades. The imam is seen at the town square showering children with coins and candies. If well-to-do, he may treat the town to a pagjamo or blowout.

Season’s greetings are expressed in different tongues – linguistic proof of the day’s significance to Filipinos. The Tagalog Maligayang Pasko is Naimbag a Pascuayo in Ilocano, Napia nga Pascua in Ibanag, Maugmang Paskuwa in Bicolano, Maupay nga Pasko in Waray, Malipayon nga Pascua in Hiligaynon, Malipayong Pasco in Cebuano.

On Holy Innocents’ Day, Dec. 28, country tots in flowing blankets roam the barrio, singing tunes similar to those sung during pangangaluluwa on All Saints and All Souls Days. The songs beg for prayers and, more importantly, treats and goodies. The olds had better comply lest chicken in their yard serve as unwilling feasts and Christmas lanterns get pricked with holes. In Alcala, Cagayan and Pakil, Laguna, laundry, benches, ladders and other portable items left outside the kubo (hut) find their way to the barrio square, victims of April Fool’s-style pranks.

The Feast of the Three Kings is Pasko ng Matatanda among Tagalogs and Bicolanos. Elders take time out from house chores to visit relatives, compadres, comadres and friends. The spirit of gift giving extends to this last day of the season, as richer kinsmen dole cash to needy ones.

As in the Panunuluyan, the Magi are depicted in folk drama in Gapan (Nueva Ecija), Malolos (Bulacan) and Gasan (Marinduque). A street play reenacts the search for the Christ Child by following the path of the Christmas star, actually the biggest and most impressive parol in town. They ride about on mules until the star disappears near the designated Herod, seated on a throne at the church patio. Herod demands them to reveal Baby Jesus’ location. After which, the star reappears, the Wise Men continue their trek and finally find the Holy Family in the kubol at the other end of the church courtyard. Herod, meanwhile, orders his guards to slay all newborn baby boys, whereupon children scamper for the safety of their mothers’ saya. An avenging angel casts a spell on Herod, who turns mad and goes around town laughing wildly – and grabbing free drinks at carinderias.

As the 22 long days of the Filipino Yuletide season draw to a close, sleepy towns and distant barrios recover from the tiring festivity. Visiting relatives pack up for the trip back to the city, while the peasant folk shake off the hangover to resume the daily grind of farm work.

Some do not bother to take down the parol, letting it hang the year round, a sad and forlorn reminder to last them the next 12 months.

Merry Christmas to all.

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

Suspended for doing duty? Bank staff decry maltreatment

Suspended for doing duty? Bank staff decry maltreatment

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

Shutterstock photo Super King Air 350

GOTCHA

written on April 12, 2023

 

Philippine National Bank’s board of directors meets with urgency today. Agenda seems but a speck of PNB’s P1.15-trillion assets, P11.4-billion profit, 8,550 personnel and 670 branches.

But the speck can inflame crisis. It concerns the suspension since March of PNB’s administrative staff. They allegedly were not informed of their offenses or afforded a chance to explain.

Their suspension came right after they reported an irregular, overpriced aircraft repair. An officer linked to the $3-million expense supposedly instigated their punishment.

Top management is in disarray. Initially supportive, superiors of the admin staff purportedly have abandoned them. Two board directors were cited in a March 8 pseudonymous complaint as aware of the events.

The suspended staff decried the sudden black mark on their employment records. They may be unable to transfer to other financial institutions. Some have been with the 107-year-old bank before tycoon Lucio Tan bought it from government in 2005. They worry about the suspension’s effect on their retirement.

If not resolved fast, the Bangko Sentral, Department of Labor, Philippine Stock Exchange and Bureau of Internal Revenue will swoop in.

Already the punishment of the investigators is affecting PNB affiliates Philippine Airlines and Basic Holdings Aviation of the Lucio Tan Group. Mr. Tan, 88, chairs the three firms and the group.

Repeated efforts were exerted over two days to contact bank EVP Aida Padilla and corporate fleet VP Clive Kian on their known mobiles – to no avail. Known as a straight-shooter but downed by Covid-19, president Florido Casuela declined an interview.

On Oct. 28, 2020 Mr. Tan approved the overhaul of PNB’s King Air executive jet’s two engines. Price: $230,000. Local offeror was Manila Aerospace Products Trading for overhauler Pratt & Whitney of Canada.

June 18, 2021 MAPTRA billed PNB $2,958,800.30, including 12-percent VAT for the overhaul.

Next day Kian, on a Basic Holdings form, signed the purchase order and payment request. Also on June 19 Kian, on PNB stock requisition form, signed for the same. He is executive assistant to chairman & CEO Mr. Tan, who reportedly is now frail and forgetful from age.

Stunned, PNB bosses sought the help of PAL, the country’s largest airline, to check the technicals and possibly haggle down the price.

Oct. 25, 2021 PAL specialist officers wrote Kian: “We cannot help but raise our earnest concern about the costly repair to MAPTRA.”

An online check showed that a brand-new King Air engine costs only $845,169, or $1,690,338 for two. After it was questioned for not offering such alternative, MAPTRA asked P&W to send a quotation for brand-new.

On top of P&W’s $1,690,338, MAPTRA tacked on a non-negotiable 15-percent administrative cost of $293,945.58. Add import costs, VAT and supposed “work in progress,” total for brand-new was $3,086,142.24.

Overhaul of $2,958,800.30 looked cheaper. Still PAL probers stuck to the $230,000 “duly signed by our beloved Chairman Dr. Lucio C. Tan.”

Receiving PAL’s investigation report, PNB’s board deferred payment. Told to probe on its own, the bank admin staff prepared their own report to Casuela for relay to the board.

Instead they were investigated by PNB internal auditors. Supposed findings: Habitual tardiness, improper uniform, sharing of passwords, missing furniture and collusion with scrap buyers.

The staff decried lack of due process: “If only our beloved Kapitan is made aware of this illegal act, he will not agree to us being insulted and treated this way. Sir Kapitan will surely admonish our officers for failing to protect the interest of the bank and rights of the employees.”

PNB doesn’t punish without hearing all sides, Senior VP Claro Fernandez said. Too, it encourages whistle-blowing, even if anonymous, for sustainability and as part of compliance with BSP rules.

Though unaware of the issue, Fernandez said “preventive suspension is done to avert purloining of documents. It is obligatory for the president and Human Resources to act on such cases.”

 

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

No substitution if Marcos candidacy is voided

No substitution if Marcos candidacy is voided

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Bongbong Marcos

GOTCHA

written on December 10, 2021

 

Despite eight petitions against Bongbong Marcos’ presidential run, his name will be in the ballot. Printing starts in five weeks. But Comelec proceedings and appeals to the Supreme Court will take months. A cliffhanger on Election Day, May 9, 2022, is if BBM’s votes shall be counted.

Preliminaries were slow. The Comelec Second Division allowed BBM’s lawyer’s delay despite the poll body’s “non-extendible” deadlines. As recipient of the first petition, it has yet to consolidate seven others, including those raffled off to the First Division. One petition, supported by a second, wants BBM’s certificate of candidacy (COC) nullified. Three aim to disqualify him for criminal past. Two seek to remove him as nuisance candidate. The eighth questions his party nomination.

Nullification of candidacy seems open and shut. BBM perjured twice in his COC, which voids it under the Omnibus Election Code, petitioners allege. First, BBM misclaimed under oath that he was “eligible for the office I seek to be elected to.” Second, he denied having been “found liable for any offense which carries the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office.”

Records show otherwise. BBM was convicted by the Court of Appeals’ final judgment in October 1997 of tax violation. He did not file income tax returns for 1982-1985 when he was Ilocos vice governor then governor. The CA inexplicably had deleted the lower court’s other verdict of tax evasion and penalty of imprisonment. Still it found BBM guilty of non-filing for four consecutive years. It ordered him to pay tax deficiencies, surcharges and fine of P2,000 per year for 1982-1984, and P30,000 for 1985.

The National Internal Revenue Code perpetually disqualifies convicts from public office. The Election Code debars candidacies of convicts of crimes involving “moral turpitude.”

Retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban quoted jurisprudence in his recent Inquirer column to define moral turpitude. It is “everything done contrary to justice, modesty or good morals; an act of baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes.”

The implication on BBM is stark. “If his COC is cancelled because of material misrepresentation, it is void from the start and he was never a valid candidate,” retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio replied to a query from The STAR. “He cannot be substituted because he was never a candidate.”

Panganiban differentiated between disqualification of candidacy and COC cancellation. Disqualification is filed for offenses against the Election Code. It allows substitution by another candidate with the same surname from the same party. But “if the candidacy of BBM is cancelled or denied due course, he cannot be substituted because such cancellation or denial legally means that the COC never existed. Thus, BBM votes will not be counted.”

*      *      *

Crisis is opportunity for market endearment. Cebu Pacific fully refunded its customers for flight cancellations during the pandemic. It returned P8.2 billion cash, not vouchers or digital travel fund, from January 2020 to September 30, 2021. After completing refund requests and resolving all cases filed at the Civil Aeronautics Board, the airline views this as a competitive advantage.

The pandemic disrupted flights of all Philippine carriers. Complaints at the CAB skyrocketed in 2020 and continued to soar this year, according to a STAR special report. The 2,691 cases involving domestic flights in 2020 was more than three times the 712 in pre-crisis 2019. Nine in ten of the complaints in 2020 were for refunds. Cebu Pacific lost no time settling all its obligations.

Also despite the pandemic, Cebu Pacific won investors’ trust. It stabilized its future with fresh capital, $250 million from IFC and Indigo. It signed a P16-billion ten-year syndicated loan with domestic banks. A stock rights offer in March 2021 raised P12.5 billion.

Remaining liquid, Cebu Pacific continued to offer affordable service and made a digital pivot to make flying easy. This enhanced passenger trust and loyalty, said CEO Lance Gokongwei: “We recognize that we can contribute to a higher purpose. It is incumbent upon us to help uplift the lives of people.”

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

For economy’s sake, Mr. President, please stop Uy’s Malampaya takeover

For economy’s sake, Mr. President, please stop Uy’s Malampaya takeover

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Malampaya gas field

GOTCHA

written on December 8, 2021

 

I feel presumptuous as a journalist of 44 years to directly address the highest leader. But desperate times call for desperate measures. So I beg you, President Duterte, stop the takeover by your Davao City friend Dennis Uy of our Malampaya gas field.

Malampaya is the crown jewel of Philippine petroleum assets. It supplies one-fourth of Luzon’s electricity. Operating it entails technical expertise, financial stability and management savvy. Otherwise,  Malampaya collapses. That would be disastrous.

Two subsidiaries of Uy’s Udenna Corp. bought 90 percent of Malampaya’s operations. Both have no experience in exploration or production:

• UC Malampaya Philippines Pte Ltd was registered in Singapore (UEN 201928740R) Sep. 1, 2019. Paid-up capital: $40 million. (Derived by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian from Singapore Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) Four months earlier, Apr. 30, the still unregistered company sealed the buy-out of Chevron’s 45-percent share, a graft complaint alleges. Guarantor was mother Udenna Corp. Sale of $565 million was formalized on Oct. 25, 2019, announced on Nov. 13.

Of the total price, $375 million was borrowed from New Zealand and Singapore banks. $157 million was from “proceeds of Chevron’s 45-percent entitlement from Malampaya” up to March 2020. Remaining $33 million was “equity proceeds, from increase in capital.” Senate hearings deduced that UC Malampaya got 14 times its worth not from solid assets but loans, backed by guaranteed earnings from Chevron itself, and future capital call.

• Malampaya Energy XP Pte Ltd was listed in Singapore (UEN 202112248K) Apr. 7, 2021. Paid-up capital: $100, or P5,000. It bought Shell Petroleum NV’s 45 percent for $460 million on May 20, 2021. “To be completed by end-2021, it would be retroactively effective Jan. 1, 2021,” Shell said.

By this yearend Uy would control 90 percent of Malampaya.

Established in 1879 and 1907 respectively, Chevron (Caltex) and Shell have a combined 256 years of experience in petroleum and alternative energy. Each has hundred-billions worth of capital and petro reserves. Udenna’s subsidiaries were both one-and-a-half months old when they gobbled up the global giants.

Newborn, they lack financial, management and technological expertise. Taking over Malampaya operations is not buying “a car, a building or any ordinary asset,” the Philippine Bar Association analogized. The newbies can subsume the 55 or so experienced gas rig scientists and technicians. But vital too are such management tools as track record, institutional knowledge, funds, credit lines, suppliers, industry contacts and more.

Without those, operations can collapse. Extracting gas three kilometers below sea level and pumping it 500 kilometers to Batangas power plants can falter. Luzon will plunge into prolonged blackouts. Factories, offices, stores, banks, hospitals, schools, hotels, resorts, restaurants, churches will shut down. Filipinos will be unable to work, study or worship from home as there will be no power for WiFi and gadget charging. Water service will stop. Food distribution will be disrupted. An economy struggling from pandemic can relapse.

That scenario is not far-fetched, Mr. President. It has happened before, though on a smaller scale. You cited it in your 2016 campaign speeches. I refer to my exposés on faulty maintenance of Metro Rail Transit-3.

PH Trams was only two months old when chosen by the Dept. of Transportation to replace global giants Sumitomo and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in October 2012. Capital: P625,000. No experience in rails, only connections to the ruling party then. It was paid P57.5 million a month for ten months. After using up the inventory it scrimped on vital parts for trains, tracks, signalling, power supply and stations. Shunned by suppliers, it subcontracted fly-by-night Bulacan foundries for wheel, axle and brake repair. Air-conditioning, catenaries, elevators and escalators broke down. Despite absorbing the old technical staff, PH Trams flunked DoTr standards.

You quoted me, Mr. President, that MRT-3 was “an accident waiting to happen.” It did happen – many times. Trains suddenly braked and doors opened between stations, injuring riders. Or simply conked out, forcing them to alight and hobble to the nearest exit. A train overshot the end-station and crashed onto the steel barrier; motorists below the elevated tracks were hurt.

They did not stop there, as you will recall, Mr. President. In the midst of congressional inquiries and court indictments, DOTr merely replaced the maintenance companies twice but with the same cronies behind new fronts: a house constructor, a general merchandiser, an agricultural supplier and a plumber. They even tried to gag me with a court order. Your administration ended the deterioration in 2017.

You can rescind the Malampaya takeover too, Mr. President. National and energy security depend on it.

P.D. 87, The Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972, requires Department of Energy consent for entry, share transfers and exit of service contractors. DOE Circular 2007-04-003 details the procedures. Both allegedly were ignored in Malampaya.

Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp., despite holding only ten percent, owns the $4.2-billion rig and pipeline. It could have matched Udenna’s offers to Chevron and Shell, then brought in experienced companies, experts say. It could even have left the two un-recompensed for walking away before contract expiration in 2024.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi claims to have no authority to meddle in the purely private transaction. Strictness of the Procurement Reform Act and the GOCC Governance Law and the pandemic supposedly constrained him from exercising right of first refusal. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines and PBA say otherwise.

Mr. President, the ball is in your hands.

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

‘Plunderers’ unite for ‘A-Dik’– more of same bad gov’t

‘Plunderers’ unite for ‘A-Dik’– more of same bad gov’t

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

–

GOTCHA

written on December 3, 2021

 

“Plunderers support A-Dik (Anak ng Diktador)!” netizens instantly judged the news. Families and parties of three Philippine presidents have coalesced for Bongbong Marcos. They are associated with plunder. BBM is the junior of deposed plundering dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He has to live down the accusation of cocaine addiction by frenemy Rodrigo Duterte.

One party is Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats, taken from founders by ex-president and congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She was once indicted and detained in hospital for P366-million plunder of sweepstakes funds. Linked as well to $200-million kickback in the $329-million NBN-ZTE scam.

Former Lakas-CMD head is Senator Bong Revilla, indicted, jailed but exonerated of pork barrel plunder and 16 counts of graft. He defies the court order to return P125 million. Present head is BBM’s cousin Rep. Martin Romualdez. His father Kokoy Romualdez, deceased, had been indicted 24 times for graft and tax evasion, which prescribed when the Supreme Court counted his fugitive years in America. His alleged loot remains unrecovered.

Another is Partido ng Masa of ex-president Joseph Estrada. “Erap” was convicted of P130-million tobacco tax plunder and P4-billion “jueteng” bribery, then pardoned by Arroyo. Son ex-senator Jinggoy Estrada was indicted twice for plunder: First with his father in 2001, then for P184-million pork barrel in 2014. Absolved of both, Jinggoy swung the party for BBM.

BBM is the standard-bearer of Partido Federal Pilipinas. In 2001 he was convicted for tax evasion in 1982-1985 while Ilocos vice-governor then governor. It’s unclear if he has paid the deficiencies, surcharges and P2,000 fine for each of the first three years and P30,000 for 1985. Turning adult three years after his father imposed murderous martial law in 1972, BBM benefited from his parents’ plunder. On their instruction he moved secret Swiss bank deposits while in post-ouster exile in Hawaii, 1986-1989. His mother Imelda Romualdez Marcos, once congresswoman and governor, was convicted in 2018 of seven counts of graft for the multibillion-dollar stash and other illegal wealth. Appealing the sentence, she has yet to serve 42 years in prison. BBM’s son, sister and other kin also hold public office.

Completing the alliance is Hugpong ng Pagbabago, led by presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio before becoming Lakas-CMD chairwoman. Sara recently said of Election 2022: “Walang isang kandidato diyan na hindi nagsisinungaling, kaya hindi dapat nagiging issue ang honesty ngayon.”

They all swap public positions with offspring, spouses and siblings – in breach of the Constitution’s ban on political dynasties.

Sara’s father, President Duterte, has love-hate for the Marcoses. He once recounted that his late mother was an anti-Dictator Marcos activist and he would never defile her memory. Yet five months into his term, he buried Marcos with full honors at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. He also admitted that the Marcoses were first to support his 2016 presidential bid, and that he had preferred BBM as VP then.

Now Duterte derides BBM for making Sara mere VP running mate despite leading all the surveys. Aside from “addict sa cocaine,” he calls BBM a “weak leader” and “nonperformer.”

BBM avoids direct clash. Online trolls do the retaliating, that it’s Duterte who thrice has admitted “getting high” and being “on cloud nine” by purposely overdosing on the opioid painkiller Fentanyl.

With Bong Go’s withdrawal, Duterte is left with no presidential bet. Murmurs are that he would now reconsider BBM or Isko Moreno, whom he has denigrated as “callboy.” Anointment by Duterte would be a “kiss of death” since it would mean continuance – “more of the same incompetent, corrupt, brutal government.” Sara is being portrayed as “a different Duterte.”

Moreno says he’d “welcome” Duterte’s endorsement. He seems oblivious to falling popularity ratings due to tirades against Leni Robredo.

Like BBM, none of the coalesced dynasts has spoken against Communist China’s sea aggression. China’s recent water-cannoning of a wooden Filipino boat resupplying Marines at Ayungin Shoal has incited public outrage. Lawmakers have denounced Beijing’s insistence that Manila remove the soldiers and the beached ship-outpost BRP Sierra Madre. Even Duterte is feigning anger with the bullying – although disbelieved because of his five-and-a-half years of fawning to Beijing.

BBM, Sara and allies are marked as Manchurian Candidates. In 2016 the MC was Duterte, proved by his “verbal pact” with President Xi Jinping for Chinese to fish in Philippine exclusive waters, and bashing of Manila’s arbitral victory as “trash paper.”

In an October survey, eight in ten Filipinos want the next president to resist China. It’s becoming clear to voters that the issue in Election 2022 is “Filipinos versus the plundering, dynastic Manchurian Candidates.”

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

Uy’s P42-B Malampaya profits can feed 10.5-M starving families

Uy’s P42-B Malampaya profits can feed 10.5-M starving families

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of indigent families receiving ayuda

GOTCHA

written on December 1, 2021

 

Malampaya is the biggest presidential gift to a crony, retired justice Antonio Carpio laments.

The state gas field was given to Dennis Uy without open bidding. The Davao City tycoon rakes in P115 million a day from the country’s principal petroleum asset. Had energy officials been dutiful, government should be earning that daily P115 million.

That cash – P42 billion a year – can fund:

• P4,000 emergency “ayuda” to 10.5 million hungry families. Malacañang keeps saying “there’s no more money for ayuda;”

• The unpaid P13-billion meal/transportation/accommodation allowance for one year of 200,000 doctors, nurses, orderlies, lab technicians, hospital janitors and security guards on pandemic duty. As well, their P5,000 a month each special risk allowance totalling P12 billion for 2021;

• P25,000 aid and P7,200 fuel subsidy to 150,000 distressed jeepney drivers totalling P4.8 billion;

• Aid to hog raisers hit by African swine fever, and poultry and vegetable growers dislocated by unabated smuggling;

• Aid to 350,000 small fishing families dispossessed by Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea;

• Aid to hundreds of thousands of overseas workers displaced by the global economic crunch.

Instead it will all go to Uy, President Rodrigo Duterte’s biggest 2016 campaign contributor.

Uy took over the 90 percent shares of global giants Shell and Chevron through two newborn, inexperienced shops. One of them had only $100 (P5,000) capital.

It gobbled up Shell for $460 million and Chevron for $565 million. “Lutong makaw!” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian remarked in an inquiry. Malampaya supplies up to 30 percent of Luzon’s electricity. Control by a technically and financially unqualified firm can lead to blackouts.

Uy, his shell companies, Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi and state firm Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. have been charged with graft at the Ombudsman. Complainants are geologist Balgamel Domingo and Filipino-American lawyers Loida Nicolas Lewis and Rodel Rodis.

Shell and Chevron used to make P21 billion each a year from Malampaya. They lost interest when the Dept. of Energy refused to extend their operation contract beyond 2024. They were impleaded in the graft rap for failure to seek prior government approval of their sellout to Uy.

PNOC-EC was accused of negligence in not matching Uy’s offers to Shell and Chevron. It shares ten percent of Malampaya operations, but owns the rig, platform and 500-kilometer pipeline worth $4.5 billion. Cusi is chairman.

Now that Uy has taken over, the DOE reportedly is contemplating a 15-year extension. Gatchalian has warned Cusi against such “midnight deal.”

Uy’s Udenna Corp. and Cusi deny any wrongdoing. Udenna claims that the Shell/Chevron buyouts were private transactions. Cusi says the strict legal requirements and the pandemic constrained his agency from holding a public selection of new operators.

Uy’s takeover has stirred up fears of Chinese entry into Malampaya and nearby Recto Bank. Since Uy needs an experienced partner, reports are that China National Overseas Oil Corp. will come in. CNOOC already has a partnership with Uy in a liquified natural gas terminal in Batangas.

Recto holds thrice more oil and gas than Malampaya. China illegally has been barring Filipino surveyors from the area, falsely claiming ownership of the resource within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

* * *

The two largest lawyers’ organizations oppose the Malampaya takeover.

The Philippine Bar Association says: “Shorn of all the smoke and mirrors, the irrefutable fact stands: what the DOE calls the backbone of the country’s power generation mix, is now in the hands of an untested and unknown entity.

“The defense that transactions between private parties are ‘not subject to review’ is unsatisfactory. What is concerned is not a car, a building or any ordinary asset. It is a facility… that sits in an area that has grave national security implications.

“We call on the DOE to put national interest first… That Malampaya ended up in the hands of an entity that is not technically or financially sound is beyond negligent; it is criminal.

“We call on the Senate to continue its probe. We ask the Ombudsman to exercise its powers before everything is too late. We join the rest of the citizenry in demanding answers.”

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines “calls on the DOE to rescind its approval of Chevron’s transfer of interest to Udenna subsidiary UC Malampaya, and Shell’s transfer to another subsidiary, Malampaya Energy XP.

“IBP also calls on DOE to thoroughly review, study and consider the extension… of the original Malampaya consortium – Shell, Chevron, PNOC-EC. This way, the consortium will be able to conduct further exploration in light of the forthcoming depletion of Malampaya field. Extension will incentivize [them] to continue operating with their proven technical and financial track record in petroleum exploration and development, in contrast to a buyer with no proven experience in operating a highly technical and capital intensive operation.”

Twelve business groups have also questioned Uy’s takeover.

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

Site Terms & Conditions (scroll down for the buttons)

This site, jariusbondoc.com, is free for your use.

However, we do have some terms and conditions which you can find below. By continuing to use or to read from this site, that means you understand and agree to comply with the terms and conditions.

I. PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy (“policy”) will help you understand how jariusbondoc.com uses and protects the data you provide to us when you visit and use https://jariusbondoc.com/ (“website”, “service”).

We reserve the right to change this policy at any given time. If you want to make sure that you are up to date with the latest changes, we advise you to frequently visit this page.

 

What User Data We Collect

When you visit the website, we may collect the following data:

  • Your IP address
  • Your contact information and email address
  • Other information such as interests and preferences
  • Data profile regarding your online behavior on our website

 

Why We Collect Your Data

We are collecting your data for several reasons:

  • To better understand your needs
  • To improve our services and products
  • To send you promotional emails containing the information we think you will find interesting
  • To contact you to fill out surveys and participate in other types of market research
  • To customize our website according to your online behavior and personal preferences

 

Safeguarding and Securing the Data

jariusbondoc.com is committed to securing your data and keeping it confidential. jariusbondoc.com has done all in its power to prevent data theft, unauthorized access, and disclosure by implementing the latest technologies and software, which help us safeguard all the information we collect online.

 

Our Cookie Policy

Once you agree to allow our website to use cookies, you also agree to use the data it collects regarding your online behavior (analyze web traffic, web pages you spend the most time on, and websites you visit).

The data we collect by using cookies is used to customize our website to your needs. After we use the data for statistical analysis, the data is completely removed from our systems.

Please note that cookies don’t allow us to gain control of your computer in any way. They are strictly used to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not so that we can provide a better experience for you.

If you want to disable cookies, you can do it by accessing the settings of your internet browser.

 

Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links that lead to other websites. If you click on these links jariusbondoc.com is not held responsible for your data and privacy protection. Visiting those websites is not governed by this privacy policy agreement. Make sure to read the privacy policy documentation of the website you go to from our website.

 

Restricting the Collection of your Personal Data

At some point, you might wish to restrict the use and collection of your personal data. You can achieve this by doing the following:

 

  • When you are filling the forms on the website, make sure to check if there is a box which you can leave unchecked, if you don’t want to disclose your personal information.
  • If you have already agreed to share your information with us, feel free to contact us via email and we will be more than happy to change this for you.

 

jariusbondoc.com will not lease, sell or distribute your personal information to any third parties, unless we have your permission. We might do so if the law forces us. Your personal information will be used when we need to send you promotional materials if you agree to this privacy policy.

 

II. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

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.