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Ramming dented not only Phl boat, but also China’s world reputation

Ramming dented not only Phl boat, but also China’s world reputation

by | Oct 25, 2023 | Gotcha

AFP and PCG drone videos of Chinese ramming, Oct. 22, 2023

GOTCHA

Beijing wants Manila to abandon Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

Its ramming of two Filipino resupply boats on Sunday was the latest of graduated pressures to make Ayungin’s marine sentries leave.

In the past, Chinese Coast Guard gunboats perilously, illegally cut across Filipino civilian outriggers approaching Ayungin. CCG demanded that Filipinos leave China’s imagined “territorial waters.”

In February 2023 CCG escalated to firing military-grade laser weapons at Filipino coastguards escorting the resupply bancas. In August it hazardously drew 40 yards too near to water cannon Filipino coast guards onboard a craft half its size.

Five to six CCG gunboats participated in each of those monthly provocations. Chinese maritime militia steel trawlers aided the dangerous maritime maneuvers. People’s Liberation Army-Navy warships hovered nearby.

Beijing’s next attempts to foil marine rotation and re-provisioning will be scarier. Bloodshed can result; lives, limbs, equipment may be lost. China’s communist rulers want Filipino soldiers and civilians to believe that Ayungin is just a reef, and that tide will soon wash away Navy vessel BRP Sierra Madre grounded there. The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting, said the philosopher Sun Tzu.

That will depend on Filipino resolve. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, AFP chief Romeo Brawner and Philippine Coast Guard chief Ronnie Gavan expressed the termination to defend the WPS against foreign annexation.

In the wake of the ramming, the AFP, which had hired the civilian outriggers, scrambled its Western Command planes and ships. The PCG compiled all videos. The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea alerted the public.

The DFA protested the ramming and summoned the Chinese ambassador to accept it. When the latter hid in his office, DFA demanded that his deputy show up.

AFP, PCG, NTF-WPS, DFA regrouped on Monday to brief the press. Malacañang convened a defense-security command conference.

Beijing’s application of Sun Tzu flopped. Even Mao Zedong’s dictum failed it: “The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.” Manila harassed, attacked, pursued; Beijing retreated.

China’s embassy was reduced to issuing two statements. The first lied that the puny Filipino wooden outrigger crossed the path of the 110-meter long steel CCG gunboat. That didn’t wash with archipelagic Filipinos, of course. They’re used to sailing small craft, which they know must steer clear of steel ferries or even their wakes.

The embassy added that the Filipino boats had trespassed Chinese territory. “Nǐ hǎo shǎ” Filipino media chorused. Under international law, only a permanently surfaced sea feature can be deemed territory and thus warrant 12-mile surrounding territorial water. Not Ayungin, which surfaces only in low tide.

Still, Ayungin is within Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (the WPS) and 700 miles away from China’s closest island, Hainan. Therefore it cannot be Chinese territory.

Lastly the embassy claimed that the CCG and Chinese maritime trawler had exercised caution and restraint. Videos show the opposite.

The second statement dwelt on Beijing’s concoctions of four supposed Manila promises to stop sea provocations, making dangerous moves, slandering China and tow away BRP Sierra Madre. Yet it cannot name which Filipino traitor, if any, vowed those.

A good communist must be a propagandist, Mao commanded. The Chinese embassy’s propaganda is stale. Even its agents in Philippine business, government, academe, media cringed to mouth its line.

The ramming highlighted China’s notoriety. Japan, followed by South Korea and France, instantly denounced China’s incursion in Philippine maritime jurisdiction. They warned it against breaching Freedom of Navigation.

America was sharper, calling Beijing’s actions “dangerous and unlawful” – “By conducting dangerous maneuvers that caused collisions with Philippine resupply and Coast Guard ships, the People’s Republic of China Coast Guard and maritime militia violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation.

“China’s conduct jeopardized Filipino crew members’ safety and impeded critically needed supplies from reaching service members stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre. Obstructing supply lines to this long-standing outpost and interfering with lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional stability.”

Previous Chinese harassments of Ayungin resupplies drew rebukes from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, India, Germany and the European Union. China’s aggression has scared small countries from trusting Beijing’s communist overlords.

Beijing cut its nose to spite its face. It broke Sun Tzu’s tenet to “know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.”

* * *

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            “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.

Duterte admission of killings only weakens daughter Sara’s stance

Duterte admission of killings only weakens daughter Sara’s stance

by | Oct 20, 2023 | Gotcha

 

Video of  Duterte’s admission of killings posted by Trillanes

 

GOTCHA

Ex-president Rody Duterte’s admission of wanton killings during his Davao City mayoralty dented his daughter VP Sara’s political stature.

The father’s televised self-incrimination not only reassociated Sara with the Davao Death Squad. It also weakened her justifications for P650-million confidential funds as VP and Education Secretary.

In the end, Sara retreated from her feud with Congress. She ignored daddy’s public counsels as well.

Dispute over confidential-intelligence funds (CIF) recently pulled down Sara’s ratings. Congress scrapped for 2024 the no-audit P500-million CIF as VP and P150 million as education chief that she got for 2023.

The elder Duterte advised Sara Oct. 10th to use confidential funds to slay detracting “communists in Congress.” “Patay kayong mga komunista diyan. Prangkahin mo na ‘yan si France,” he blurted on Sonshine Media Network Inc., apparently referring to Sara’s legal left critic Rep. France Castro, of Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list.

Duterte admitted using intelligence funds as mayor to hire assassins of communists: “My intelligence funds, I used it to buy. I had all of them killed. That’s why Davao is like that. Your companions, I really had them killed. That’s the truth.”

SMNI took down the video Oct. 12th. But staunch Duterte censurer ex-senator Antonio Trillanes IV circulated it online, then submitted it to the International Criminal Court.

Duterte faces charges before the ICC for extrajudicial killings during part of his term, November 2011-June 2016. A bloody drug war marked his presidency, July 2016-June 2022.

Duterte alternated with Sara as mayor and vice mayor. Councilors granted them confidential, not intelligence funds, differing but complementing.

Main witness at the ICC is retired Senior Police Officer-3 Arthur Lascañas. The self-confessed Davao Death Squad boss detailed some of more than a hundred alleged assassinations of drug suspects and political foes.

Five DDS henchmen corroborated Lascañas’ avowals: militiaman Edgar Matobato, SPO1 Vivencio Jumawan Jr., barangay chief Fulgencio Pavo and aliases Jose Basilio and Crispin Salazar.

City hall paid them huge amounts even when Sara was mayor, 2010-2013, Lascañas alleged. He received at least P68,000 a month by collecting in behalf of ten to 12 ghost employees.

The Commission on Audit in 2012 observed that Mayor Sara’s admin paid P678 million for 11,000 contractual workers without requisite accomplishment reports. COA also reported that Sara as mayor drew confidential fund of:

• P144 million in 2016;

• P294 million, 2017;

• P420 million, 2018;

• P460 million, 2019;

• P460 million, 2020;

• P460 million, 2021;

• P460 million, 2022.

Newly resigned Finance undersecretary and UP economics professor Cielo Magno noted that Sara’s confidential funds were larger than her yearly budgets for education, nutrition, health, labor and employment, housing and community development, social services and welfare, or culture and sports.

That same period, COA noted, president Duterte received confidential, intelligence, extraordinary and miscellaneous funds of:

• P517 million, 2016;

• P2.5 billion, 2017;

• P2.5 billion, 2018;

• P2.5 billion, 2019;

• P4.5 billion, 2020;

• P4.5 billion, 2021;

• P4.5 billion, 2022.

Sara got flak recently from House of Representatives leaders since her requested P650-million confidential fund for 2024 is higher than those of the Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force that defend the West Philippine Sea against Chinese aggression. Hardly funded too are the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, PNP Maritime Command and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

Congressmen denounced Sara’s demand of a 450-man brigade-size security from the defense department. As well, her receipt from Malacañang of P221-million extra funds in her first six months as VP, July-December 2022.

Of that amount, P125 million was confidential fund which Sara spent in 11 days in December. That was despite the OVP having no such unaudited fund for 2022 because former VP Leni Robredo didn’t ask for any during budget hearings in late 2021.

Rody Duterte blamed attacks on his daughter on Speaker Martin Romualdez, with whom she supposedly will compete for the presidency in 2028. In a subsequent SMNI telecast he called Congress, where he sat in 1998-2001, as the dirtiest branch of government.

He advised Sara on air to use DepEd’s confidential fund to revive the Reserve Officer Training Corps. But that won’t wash, for two reasons:

• The Senate’s version of ROTC restoration is in the first two years of college. Meaning, it will be under the Commission on Higher Education, not Sara’s DepEd.

• Reviving ROTC in the last two years of high school, as the House version states, will contravene the UN Convention Against Child Soldiers, since military service will be trained at minor ages of 16-17, not 18-above.

* * *

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.

Court case bares big contractor behind Makati ‘flying registrants’

Court case bares big contractor behind Makati ‘flying registrants’

by | Oct 13, 2023 | Gotcha

Video of a flying registrant in Brgy. Carmona, Makati

GOTCHA

It pays to push back abusers, no matter how moneyed. That’s how a Makati City barangay won against an invasion of fake vote registrants.

The voters-for-hire even fought back, appealing at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) their expulsion by a Metropolitan Court judge. All indigents, they were represented  not by the Public Attorney’s Office or pro-bono counsels but by pricey lawyers of Quasha Law.

Fed up with Comelec inaction on the scam, Barangay Carmona residents filed 36 cases – one per precinct – to exclude thousands of bogus voters. In each case, Quasha Law counselled for the defense.

Quasha’s clients are unlike destitute flying voters. They include Philippine Stock Exchange, Standard Chartered Bank and St. Luke’s Medical Center, among many prestigious ones.

‘’Such a law firm is de campanilla and certainly does not come cheap,” Makati RTC Branch-142 judge Rainald Paggao declared in a 14-page ruling on Aug. 24th. “If so, it is not idle thought that there is something more than meets the eye.”

Asked who sent them, one of the Quasha counsels named a certain Gerald Chua.

Documents and weblinks identify Chua as president of E. F. Chua Construction Inc., a double-A supplier of DPWH specializing in building construction, civil engineering and mechanical projects. In 2019 the company figured in a violent demolition of urban-poor dwellings in a disputed 17.6-hectare estate in Malipay-3, Molino-4, Bacoor, Cavite. One person died in the clash that militants billed as “landgrab.”

Judge Paggao linked Chua to flying voters, stating that he personally received summons issued to respondents in their posted address, which happens to be Chua’s own home. Coincidence?

The fake registrants could not produce legal ID cards or genuine proofs of residence. Judge Paggao upheld Brgy. Carmona’s complaining residents.

The judge exhorted the Election Registration Board to ‘’add a layer of vigor in the performance of its mandate.’’ He affirmed the Metropolitan Court’s earlier exclusion of the respondents from Comelec’s official voters’ list.

Brgy. Carmona’s fight is far from over. Comelec Makati, through its voter registration centers, had accepted 3,697 flying voters. That’s a whopping 78-percent increase from the barangay’s original roster of 4,718 voters in Election 2022.

The anomaly not only defies Philippine Statistics Authority’s population projections for Brgy. Carmona. It also occurs without any expansion of territorial coverage or mass inbound migration.

The 78-percent advantage can make a barangay or Sangguniang Kabataan candidate win, even if all legitimate voters prefer others on Election Day, Oct. 30.

Due to present Brgy. Carmona head Joselito Salvador’s opposition, 971 fraudulent registrants have been purged, including eight for SK. But more than 2,000 bogus registrants are still in Comelec’s list. On flimsy basis, Comelec-Makati insists they are genuine Brgy. Carmona constituents.

Brgy. Carmona residents initially filed the 36 cases with Metropolitan courts. They won in most, lost in some. Where they lost, they appealed to RTCs, but the excluded fakes did likewise.

If the RTCs uphold all lower court rulings, a little over a thousand more fake voters will be ejected. Slightly less will be retained.

Salvador predicts those thousand or so flying voters to swarm Brgy. Carmona on E-Day, as the courts curiously come up with conflicting decisions on what is essentially the same petition.

But at least, Brgy. Carmona residents purged the voters list of 2,000 flying voters.

* * *

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.

Duterte called Christ ‘s**t’, but none prosecuted him

Duterte called Christ ‘s**t’, but none prosecuted him

by | Oct 6, 2023 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Drag queen Pura Luka Vega’s detention this week may just be the first of a series. A Manila court had him arrested for violating Revised Penal Code Article 201: Immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent shows.

Complainant is Hijos del Nazareno. Vega in July had impersonated onstage the Black Nazarene of Quiapo Catholic Church. He lip-synced on video a rock remix of “Ama Namin” (“Our Father”), Jesus Christ’s prayer taught in the Bible.

Vega faces separate raps in a Quezon City court, which can also jail him. There the evangelical Philippines for Jesus Movement charged him with breach of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (R.A. 10175).

PJM counts political heavyweights as officers: Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and his father House Deputy Speaker Eduardo Villanueva. Baptist pastor Rep. Bienvenido Abante is an ally.

Vega’s performance rankled Catholics, mainstream Protestants and evangelical Christians who comprise 80 percent of Filipinos, amidst criticisms he invoked constitutional freedom of expression.

He also aligned with detractors: “[My] intent was to embody a version of Christ that is one with the queer audience. I just want to create a narrative that despite all of these, Jesus, as the embodiment of God’s love for all, does not forget the oppressed, including the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Lingayen-Dagupan Catholic Archbishop Socrates Villegas was unconvinced. “[The video] was a plunge into a deeper cliff of vulgar blasphemy,” he lamented. “[But] it was bound to happen in time.”

One of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s staunchest critics in 2016-2022, Villegas cited “seeds of blasphemy that were planted during [his] six years in office.”

True, Duterte incensed Villegas’ co-religionists – yet got away with it.

In November 2015, when nominated as PDP-Laban presidential candidate, Duterte cussed Pope Francis. “P***ng ina ka, umuwi ka na, huwag ka na magbisita dito,” as he recounted the traffic during the Vicar of Christ’s visit to Manila. The person who uploaded the remark guffawed in the background.

On his first Christmas as President, Duterte called Christ “s**t.” Occasion: a convocation of 6,000 Davao barangay officials, Dec. 27, 2016. He fumed at Catholic hierarchs and Washington critics of his bloody war on drugs:

“Kanang Amerika, pareho pud ang simbahan sige mog panudlo (America and the Church are just the same… preaching), kay sige kag tudlo sa ako kamo naman pod, kay naa man pod kachumpay ra usa.

“Muningon ka na Duterte kay killer. Kay kamo, unsa man diay mo? Killer, kamo gani gapatay kay Kristo, karon ako pa’y ngil ad. Naay Ginoo, pero ayaw kabilib anang pageantry.

“Guapo kaayog mga beste, mamili lag…taas taas pang yawa’g Body of Christ, gold ang—ang butangan sang Body of Christ ang ostia, pan-os na. Body of Christ inyong igit [your s**t].”

Transcripts are extant in the Presidential Communications Office archives: https://tinyurl.com/Duterte-27-Dec-2016. Watch: https://tinyurl.com/Duterte-Video-27-Dec-2016.

How did fellow-Catholic school grads, mass goers and communicants react to the President’s public mockery of the Holy Eucharist? Didn’t Duterte, as highest official, impeachably violate constitutional separation of Church and State? Shouldn’t he be indicted for breach of RPC-Article 133: Offending religious feelings?

“No comment,” said the son of Opus Dei-Philippines founding officers and sibling of supernumeraries, who was a Duterte campaign fundraiser.

“It’s an issue between God and Duterte,” said the retired congressman from Ateneo who now leads weekend worships.

“Accept Duterte for what he is, a kanto boy,” chuckled the churchmate-doctor about her fellow-Mindanaoan president.

Clergymen were as noncommittal. “It’s a Catholic concern,” retorted a Protestant deacon, who said Body of Christ for them means the congregation and not the Sacred Host. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines should issue a rebuke, but they’re busy auditing instead of sheperding, rued a foreigner priest.

“We mimic the silence of Christ before the mocking mobbed,” explained a radio commentator-priest.

Duterte escalated attacks on Christians. “Your God is stupid, mine has a lot of commonsense,” he boasted in another gathering of Davao barangay men, June 25, 2018.

In the Bible’s Creation story, Duterte harangued, God foolishly planted a Forbidden Tree which caused the Fall from Paradise. Did the ex-state prosecutor know that he criminally insulted two other Abrahamic religions?

The Quran says the Forbidden Tree served as a test for Adam and Eve. God warned them to beware of enemy Satan who, pretending to be a sincere advisor, will tempt them to partake of the Forbidden Fruit. Forgetting God’s command, Adam and Eve erred.

The Torah cites the Trees of Knowledge and of Life. Adam and Eve knew nothing about right and wrong, including their nudity. When they ate the Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge, God banished them from Heaven, thus deprived of the Fruit of Eternal Life.

Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Muslims, Judaists continued to give Duterte high acceptance and performance ratings.

* * *

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.

China must leave Panganiban, not our Navy from Ayungin

China must leave Panganiban, not our Navy from Ayungin

by | Sep 22, 2023 | Gotcha

Video of destroyed coral reefs in Ayungin 

GOTCHA

It’s China that must vacate Panganiban (Mischief) Reef. Not the Philippine Navy from Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

Both seamarks are within the 200-nautical mile Philippine exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. They’re well beyond China’s own 200-nm EEZ.

Panganiban is 189 nm from Palawan mainland; Ayungin, 170 nm. Both are more than 650 nm from China’s nearest Hainan province.

The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea grants each coastal state up to 200-nm EEZ. Archipelagos like the Philippines also have 150-nm extended continental shelf. Example: Philippine (Benham) Rise, within 200-nm EEZ and 150-nm ECS of East Philippine Sea, Pacific side.

Even if China has a 150-nm ECS in addition to its 200-nm EEZ, Panganiban would still be beyond its legal jurisdiction under UNCLOS.

The Hague verdict of 2016 state those facts. The Permanent Court of Arbitration decided on the basis of UNCLOS.

The PCA reiterated UNCLOS’s provision that only the coastal state has the right to use the resources in its EEZ – fish, reefs, undersea minerals and petroleum.

China illegally occupies Panganiban, the PCA ruled. China also violates Philippine sovereign rights in menacing Filipino fishermen and oil drillers in nearby Recto (Reed) Bank.

The PCA rubbished China’s “nine-dash line” sea boundary as unfounded and contrary to UNCLOS. It chastised China for irreparably damaging the marine ecosystem in transforming Panganiban into an island fortress. Also for paving airstrips on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) and Zamora (Subi) Reefs farther west.

China began annexing Panganiban in 1992. It built huts as supposed storm shelters of Chinese and Filipino fishermen.

Phooey, fú y?, h?o xiào! Chinese fishers shouldn’t even be in Philippine EEZ. If they’re there, it’s to poach. They used to trespass in wooden craft. Now they ride trawlers that haul 76 tons of fish per day. Double steel-hulls are for ramming Filipino wooden boats.

By 1995 China had concreted Panganiban. Military buildup ensued: canons, helipads, naval ports. Beijing ignored Philippine demands to depart.

China’s military aggression threatened nearby Recto’s petroleum reserves. Sampaguita Offshore field is estimated to hold 5.4 billion barrels of oil and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of gas.

To defend Recto, the Philippine Navy beached BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin, 20 nm east-southeast away. Today China harasses civilian bancas that resupply nine Marines on the rusty vessel.

China has the temerity to claim that it’s the bancas and Philippine Coast Guard escorts that trespass its imagined territory. Its Filipino puppets echo that China’s “kindness” has allowed our Marines to stay there for 24 years.

(In 1994 Malaysian frogmen planted their flag on Rizal or Commodore Reef. Our Navy shelled the flag. No more intruders thereafter.)

From its naval base in Panganiban, China dispatches its coast guards to surround Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, 56 nm to the east. Also Rozul (Iroquis) Reef, 58 nm north.

Recto is in the middle of Panganiban, Ayungin, Escoda and Rozul.

If China grabs Ayungin, Escoda and Rozul, it would then drill our petroleum.

*      *      *

One hundred forty-seven retirees of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13) have yet to receive P500 million in benefits since 2002. Most of them had served the company 20-30 years. Twenty-five have passed away.

IBC-13’s new president Jimmy Policarpio is asking Congress to settle the claims once and for all. Or else, it will continue to rise six percent per year, as ruled by the National Labor Relations Commission.

Previous heads of the Presidential Commission on Good Government had failed to recompense the retirees. They kept banking on purchase by private investors, which never materialized.

During the 2023 budget deliberations, JV Ejercito convinced fellow senators to allot the full retirement pay. But the House of Representatives panel in the bicameral conference committee had it scrapped. Likely transferred to public works-cum-pork barrels.

Ejercito will try to budget it again in 2024. Policarpio, once a Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer, must get his House contacts to support it.

IBC-13 needs another P523 million for capital expenditure. It must digitalize its ten stations by 2024. If it remains analog, it will face penalties from the National Telecoms Commission.

* * *

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.

DENR clarifications needed pronto on bay landfilling, watershed quarrying

DENR clarifications needed pronto on bay landfilling, watershed quarrying

by | Sep 15, 2023 | Gotcha

(PNA photo, Apr. 2023, Manila Bay reclamation in Pasay City)

GOTCHA

I’m no fan of landfilling at Manila Bay,” a former Philippine Reclamation Authority bigwig confided. “But after many years of applying, studying, complying with a million reclamation requirements, all 22 projects suddenly are stopped, just like that, by the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.”

He’s got a point. Why put multibillion-peso investors through the wringer, notify them to proceed, then subject them to newer rules?

DENR presumably conducted environment-impact assessments on each of the 22 reclamations. Now Sec. Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga says there’s need for one cumulative impact assessment, as in how all 22 will affect the ecosystem.

Obviously DENR bureaucrats goofed. They gave reclamation authorities piecemeal go-signals for landfilling. They ignored environmentalists’ warnings against arbitrary approvals.

Only when the US embassy complained that waters around its bayside compound was being dredged – by a China state company blacklisted by the U.S. State Department – did everyone at DENR start to look busy.

Yulo-Loyzaga must make their heads roll. More than that, she must rush forming the scientists team for the cumulative impact assessment.

Issues and risks for the scientists to determine:

• Collapse of unstable reclamation edges due to earth tremors. Is soft soil being replaced with sand for geotechnically stable foundation?

• Settlement, stability and bearing capacity for the land expansion. Is sand filling layered, not rushed?

• Uneven and uncontrolled settlement during its lifetime. Are vertical drains embedded to release subsoil overpressure?

• Earthquake liquefaction due to insufficient bearing capacity. Is the sand densified by compacting to prevent collapse?

• Flooding and erosion during typhoons. Are reclamation edges protected by revetments constructed from rock armor and topped with a wave wall to minimize overtopping sea swells?

• Will there be ongoing and post-construction monitoring and soil sampling for settlement or instability?

Yulo-Loyzaga also needs to review the history of Manila Bay reclamations.

Only one of the projects, that of Pasay City Hall, was proposed as far back as 2013. Master planning and concept design were finished by 2016. Site surveys and schematic designs followed in 2017. Pasay City’s submission of detailed engineering plans kicked off Reclamation Authority’s review process in 2018. Project approval came in 2019, and contract signing in 2020. Construction commenced 2021.

The 21 others rushed their papers and got approvals during the Duterte admin, 2016-2022.

Pasay City’s project manager is Royal HaskoningDHV. Investor SM Prime Holding hired the 140-year-old Dutch firm. The global engineering consultancy has 6,000 specialists of 95 nationalities operating in 25 countries.

*      *      *

Has DENR shut down three rock quarries at Upper Marikina Watershed? Or was it just press release?

A coalition of more than 80 environment, safety and youth NGOs are asking Yulo-Loyzaga for a definitive reply. That’s because of DENR’s contradictory actions.

At a Senate environment committee hearing on Nov. 26, 2022 Yulo-Loyzaga claimed that she has cancelled the quarries. That was good news for millions of residents and shopkeepers in a dozen cities below the watershed.

She repeated the claim on March 13, 2023 at a counterpart committee hearing of the House of Reps. That should’ve closed the matter.

But the Upper Marikina Watershed Coalition was suspicious. Fifteen quarries, the biggest owned by an ex-DENR secretary, were still operating in adjacent Montalban, part of the mountain ecosystem. They pressed DENR for copies of the cancellations.

Three orders, all dated Dec. 19, 2022 from Usec Juan Miguel Cuna, were shown to the coalition. Supposedly the 25-year mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) of Quimson Limestone Inc., Quarry Rock Group and Rapid City Realty Development Corp. had lapsed; thus cancelled.

Here’s the catch. There were no dates or signatures acknowledging receipt by the three quarries.

Moreover, the orders were not posted as required in the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Portal. Then the file for Calabarzon Region IV-A, which covers the Upper Marikina Watershed in Baras and Tanay towns, Rizal province, was taken down. It has not been restored to date.

On Aug. 2, 2023 the coalition wrote Yulo-Loyzaga to clarify things once and for all. MPSAs were forbidden in watersheds to begin with, the members said. They cited four laws:

• 1975 Forestry Code, P.D. 705;

• 1977 P.P. 1636 “Declaring as National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary and Game Preserve” the mountains of Rizal, Bulacan, Laguna and Quezon — including Marikina Montalban Watersheds;

• 1992 National Integrated Protected Areas System Law and

• 1995 Mining Act.

Yulo-Loyzaga has not responded.

Word spread during the House hearing last week on DENR’s 2024 budget: the reason why no cancellation document has been served is because of politicos’ lobby.

Will the MPSAs be renewed or re-awarded to others? If so, watershed forest denudation will go on. The 60-million-year-old limestone relics at Masungi area will be crushed. More floodwaters will cascade down to Marikina, San Mateo, Montalban, Cainta, Pasig, Pateros, Taguig, San Juan, Quezon City.

* * *

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.

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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.