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Impossible to steal P67 billion? These cases show otherwise

Impossible to steal P67 billion? These cases show otherwise

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

photo from Transparency International website

GOTCHA

written on August 18, 2021

 

Only the naive will believe that it’s impossible to steal P67 billion. Documents, not bluster, can disprove allegations of President Duterte’s pandemic misspending. Telling the independent Commission on Audit to stop publishing its findings only heightens suspicion. Advising against resigning concentrates the fire on the health secretary.

Grand thefts in government abound. Serialized in this column in 2003 was the string of sleaze behind the $412-million construction of NAIA Terminal-3. In 2004 I exposed the P302-million plunder by the Armed Forces comptroller-general. I bared in 2007 the attempted national broadband network-ZTE scam, which had a P10-billion kickback, larger than the P7-billion project cost. Hearings on the P105-million police chopper scam of 2009 are wrapping up.

There were the P728-million ghost fertilizer scam of 2004 and the P10-billion pork barrel scam of 2013. Philippine firms participated in the $1-billion Bangladesh Bank cyber-heist of 2016. The ombudsman is investigating PhilHealth’s P15-billion overpayments in 2020. In the Guinness Book of World Records is Ferdinand Marcos’ plunder of $10 billion from 1972-1986.

On its 25th year in 2019, Transparency International compiled probes of “25 Corruption Scandals that Shook the World:”

(1) Siemens, Germany – Discovered in 2006 were $1.4 billion in bribes by the conglomerate to several governments, booked as tax-exempt “useful expenses,” for infrastructure contracts.

(2) Abacha, Nigeria – By his death in 1998, General Sani Abacha had pillaged $5 billion in five years from the Central Bank.

(3) Fujimori, Peru – During his presidency, Alberto Fujimori embezzled $600 million mostly in un-audited intelligence funds.

(4) Kadyrov, Chechnya – President Ramzan Kadyrov exacted from all wage earners up to $864 million a year ostensibly for homes and mosques, but also built private palaces and threw lavish parties.

(5) Ben Ali, Tunisia – From 1987 to 2011 president Ben Ali put up 220 family monopolies to amass $13 billion.

(6) Yanukovych, Ukraine – A golf course, ostrich farm, private zoo and a full-sized Spanish galleon were among the attractions at president Viktor Yanukovych’s 137-hectare estate, part of his $40 billion loot.

(7) Martinelli, Panama – While president from 2009-2014, Ricardo Martinelli took kickbacks from public contracts, including for school children’s meals and bags.

(8) 1MDB, Malaysia – Former prime minister Najib Razak is on trial for pocketing more than $4 billion from the development fund that he chaired.

(9) Russian-Moldovan Laundromat – Over $80 billion in public funds have been siphoned off and laundered in Moldova into Russian officials’ bank accounts in Europe.

(10) Gürtel, Spain – Tycoon Francisco Correa, alias Gürtel, funnelled bribes to the ruling party, even the office of the president, for dirty public deals.

(11) Venezuela – South America’s richest country 20 years ago, Venezuela is in political and humanitarian crisis after the plunder of the state-owned oil company.

(12) Panama Papers – Leaked files of the Mossack Fonseca law firm listed 214,000 shell companies of money-launderers, including 140 politicians and 12 leaders of foreign governments.

(13) Maldives – Unearthed in 2016 were $1.5 billion in bribes, including to president Abdulla Yameen, for no-bidding leases of 50 islands and submerged coral lagoons.

(14) Obiang, Equatorial Guinea – Teodorín Obiang bragged in Instagram of luxury living, mansions, two dozen sports cars and Michael Jackson memorabilia, all purloined from Africa’s oil-rich country, as vice president to his president-father.

(15) Gupta, South Africa – The Gupta family amassed $7 billion from monopolies acquired by bribing president Jacob Zuma and children.

(16) Lebanon – In 2015 the country plunged into garbage crisis, filling its streets and beaches with trash, stench and water contamination, with the collapse of the rubbish disposal monopoly acquired through bribery.

(17) FIFA – In 2015 was exposed rampant racketeering and impunity in the Fedération Internationale de Football Association, tarnishing sports overseers.

(18) Myanmar – Environmental disasters kill thousands yearly due to mining by generals, cronies and drug lords; in 2014 alone $31 billion in jade stones were smuggled to China.

(19) Guatemala – A former president resigned due to corruption investigations, but present president Jimmy Morales blocked the probe when he too was linked.

(20) Turkey – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan removed or jailed hundreds of police, prosecutors and judges for investigating the “gas for gold” racket of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

(21) Azerbaijan – Officials bribed European delegates $3 billion to ignore the country’s human rights violations and rigged elections.

(22) Paradise Papers – In 2017 records of Bermuda law firm Appleby leaked secret deposits of 120 politicians, royals, oligarchs and fraudsters, plus bribes from Glencore to Congo president Joseph Kabila.

(23) Operation Lava Jato – Investigation of $1-billion sleaze in Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras exposed dirty money, foreign bribery and illicit political financing.

(24) The Troika – Leaked data from Troika Dialog, once Russia’s largest private investment bank, revealed that half of Russia’s wealth is stashed in offshore tax havens.

(25) Babiš, Czech Republic – In 2019 the European Commission discovered that $19 million in EU agricultural subsidies went to a private company of prime minister Andrej Babiš.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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

Politicizing of ‘ayuda’ backfires on Duterte

Politicizing of ‘ayuda’ backfires on Duterte

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

 Wikipedia photos of President Duterte (left) and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno (right)

GOTCHA

written on August 13, 2021

 

“A callboy as president?” Rody Duterte sounded so scandalized by bikini photos of a male metropolitan mayor aspiring for the highest office. Duterte didn’t name names. Still he devoted to it a good part of his Ulat sa Bayan telecast last Monday:

“Nakita ko nga sa Facebook kanina. Naka-bikini ang gago. May isang picture pa doon na sinisilip niya ang ari niya. ‘Yan ang gusto ninyo? Parang callboy, naghuhubad, nagpa-picture naka-bikini, tapos ‘yung garter tinatanggal niya… ‘Yan ang training ng presidente? Maghubad, magpa-picture at magsilip… magyabang sa kanilang ari?”

Duterte claimed that the mayor is “so disorganized.” “Ayuda” for the latest pandemic re-lockdown supposedly cannot be entrusted to that city hall. Duterte instead ordered his generals for local governments and social welfare to hand out the cash aid. Those departments have no foot soldiers.

As if on cue, still shots suddenly spread online of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno clad only in briefs. Trolls scrambled to bash the matinee idol-turned-politician. Moreno is of late Duterte’s favorite target for blind-item sniping. Simple remarks of the mayor rile the occupant of Malacañang. As example, “The presidency is not for inheriting” likely pricks Duterte’s emergent scheme for daughter Sara to succeed him in Election 2022. Although Moreno and Sara have yet to declare to run, both are leading in surveys.

Defenders retorted that the photos were two-decades-old promos for a movie when Moreno was a showbiz newbie. That’s past and he has since changed. “What’s important is that [he] never lied, did not steal, kill nor brought shame to the great people of Manila as a public servant,” Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla told ABS-CBN News.

“Eyes on the ball, not on someone else’s balls,” Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite chided Duterte. “May oras pa siya maghalungkat ng lumang litrato, e nagugutom na ang taumbayan dahil sa kanyang lockdown.” Region-wide lockdowns are Malacañang’s default response to COVID-19 resurges, amidst its paltry vaccinations and contact tracing. Livelihoods are disrupted and families subsisting hand-to-mouth go hungry, as police keep them indoors. Duterte’s “ayuda” was to commence only last Wednesday, five days after he imposed weeks of lockdown.

Drifting into locker-room blabber typifies Duterte’s presidential speeches. Spokesmen blame the public for being scandalized and not getting the joke. In a midterm election campaign rally at Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Palawan, on April 8, 2019, he bragged about his penis size and sexual prowess:

“Sa totoo ang lalaki is measured by his character, hindi ‘yong pa-guwapo-guwapo ka diyan, tapos paglabas ng t***, maliit pala… Pag ako binigyan ng Diyos ng ganyan kaliit, putulin ko ‘yan sa harap ng altar. ‘T*** i*** mo, ‘yan lang pala binigay mo, todohin na natin. E kung sa dormitoryo nakatira ‘yan kagaya namin, sa YMCA, hubad lahat maglakad sa corridor. Walang tapis-tapis. Diyan mo makita pagka umaga. Ako hindi nagyayabang… ang tuwalya ko… pinapatong ko tapos lakad ako sa kanila. Bilib sila. ‘P***-i*** Duterte, ang tigas o!’ May buhay pa ba na taga-YMCA sa Pilipinas? Di ba, pabiliban tayo? Kasi noong bata pa, nakaharap sa langit halos e (demonstrates with the microphones). Pataas. Nakahalik na ‘yung ulo sa pusod ko. Pasalamat ako sa tatay ko – at least pinalabas niya ako sa buhay highly equipped. Bata pa kami noon nang magpunta kami doon sa mga babae. Magtakbuhan. ‘Ayaw namin ‘yang payat na ‘yan – ayaw nang huminto.’ Lugi sila.” (See link below)

Illuminating, inspiring words memorialize statesmen: Churchill, de Gaulle, Roosevelt, Mitterand, Kennedy, etc. Duterte is immortalized in global mainstream and social media for misogynistic remarks in public. Angry netizens have been reposting those.

Campaigning for president in 2016 Duterte said he should have been first as then-Davao City mayor to gang-rape an attractive Australian missionary slain by rioting convicts. In November 2016, the new President said he nudged Cabinet members to join him ogle the knees of Vice President Leni Robredo. In February 2018, he told soldiers to shoot female communist insurgents in the vagina. Another time he said they can rape up to three times with his permission. The following April he narrated how, as a teenager, he had molested the family housemaid. In August 2018 he justified the high rape incidence in his Davao home-city, “As long as there are many beautiful women, there will be more rape cases.” In March of this year, his birthday video showed him attempting to grope a servant. Belittling it, his spokesman claimed there was no malice since the woman was a longtime house helper and was used to Duterte’s naughtiness.

Last Wednesday the Cabinet turned over to Moreno’s office the “ayuda” for his distribution. The generals refused to talk to reporters about Duterte’s directive. There was no reason to withhold the emergency cash. Only last June 30 they had commended Moreno for swift action on similar funds during the April lockdown. The certificate cited Moreno’s “efficient, timely completion of the distribution of ayuda to your constituents despite the challenges of the pandemic, in accordance with the DSWD-DILG-DND Joint Memorandum Circular 1-2021.”

(Listen: https://youtu.be/Ykh1OC8ZPLg)

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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

Lockdowns unleashing a worse epidemic: TB

Lockdowns unleashing a worse epidemic: TB

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

stock photo

GOTCHA

written on August 6, 2021

 

Lockdowns aim to contain the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. But they unintentionally unleash a worse killer, tuberculosis.

Region-, province- and city-wide lockdowns disrupt livelihoods. Earnings lessened, people are forced to subsist hand-to-mouth. They go hungry and undernourished. Mental anguish and cooped up stress drive them to smoke and drink. With mobility restricted they are unable to seek medical care and buy medicines. TB-related diseases like diabetes go unattended; numerous kidney dialysis centers have, in fact, shut down.

TB thrives in those conditions. Nearly 600,000 Filipinos fell ill to TB in 2019, the World Health Organization reported. Five main causes were undernourishment, smoking, alcohol use disorder, diabetes and human immunodeficiency virus.

TB killed 22,000 Filipinos in 2017, the world’s fourth worst fatality rate. In 2019 the deaths rose to 28,000, WHO said. That makes TB more lethal than COVID-19, which has killed 28,000 in 18 months, February 2020 to date.

Also in 2019, the Philippines had 554 TB cases per 100,000 population, the worst incidence in Asia. About 21,000 contracted drug-resistant TB. Too, 11,000 HIV sufferers fell ill with TB.

The stats can only have worsened in 2020 to the present. But data-recording is all messed up, precisely due to COVID-19. Since March 2020, when the first lockdowns were imposed, TB consultations, testing and treatment dropped, according to the Department of Health. By the end of 2020, only 268,816 new and relapse TB cases were notified to DOH. It was a 35-percent decrease in reporting from 2019 figures.

Case notification is the first step in the government’s anti-TB program. Identified patients are then treated to stem the epidemic.

One can only imagine how many TB cases are left unattended out there.

TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A patient transmits the bacteria from cough, sneeze, spit and talking. Droplets are inhaled during close contact. At first the exposed person’s natural defense system will fight the bacteria. But once the immune system weakens, the bacteria attack the lungs and other organs.

TB is curable. Treatment is free in public health facilities nationwide.

But the 2016 National TB Prevalence Survey found out that only 19 percent of people with TB symptoms sought treatment and care. The rest ignored the condition or self-medicated. “These behaviors likely prevail today as mobility restrictions continue with COVID-19,” the DOH said.

Amid the pandemic, DOH and its partners are doubling efforts to get TB care back on track, it said. At least 100,000 TB deaths are expected in the five years to 2025.

Symptoms of TB are: persistent cough that lasts more than three weeks, usually with phlegm and blood; weight loss; night sweats; high temperature; tiredness and fatigue; loss of appetite and swellings in the neck.

Those experiencing symptoms or diagnosed with TB are encouraged to consult barangay health centers or nearest government clinics for free treatment. The DOH also is addressing public stigma and discrimination.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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

Congress bill can forbid un-vaccinated from voting

Congress bill can forbid un-vaccinated from voting

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of PH Congress

GOTCHA

written on August 4, 2021

 

Congress is rushing a bill that can bar those un-vaccinated for COVID-19 from voting in Election 2022. It can even deter the ongoing voter registration.

The House of Reps committee on health is to fasttrack deliberations on the bill that would prohibit non-vaccinees from public places and events. This as the Executive has yet to adequately supply vaccines and speed up distribution and injecting.

Under House Bill No. 9252, “No persons who are covered by this Act, as determined by the Department of Health, shall be allowed to enter, convene or occupy public places, whether or not government- or privately-owned.”

That means restaurants, malls, churches – even polling precincts and voter registration sites. Such places are specified for enlistment of voters and casting of ballots.

“Drastic measure” is needed against vaccine hesitancy and choosiness, said author Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. The bill exempts persons with medical conditions, as determined by the DOH or a licensed medical doctor, from mandatory inoculation against COVID-19.

Barzaga said Sunday, Aug. 1, that health committee chair Rep. Helen Tan will hold hearings within this or next month. Target enactment is the soonest, before congressmen’s term ends in June 2022.

The bill aims to compel “herd immunity.” That is, immunization of 70 percent of the population, or 77 million of 110 million. Epidemiologists say herd immunity, by vaccination or actual infection, can contain the pandemic.

With the trickling arrival of inoculants and slow vaccination rate, experts project herd immunity to be achieved only by year-end 2022. That would be seven months after the presidential-congressional-local balloting in May 2022.

As of Aug. 1, five months after the government began, only 8.36 percent of Filipinos have been completely inoculated with two jabs. Less than 21 million of nearly 24 million jabs have been administered.

The snail’s pace has forced the government to scale down its target from 70-percent herd immunity to only 50-percent “population protection” by this yearend.

The population reached 110 million last June, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported. Sixty two percent, or 68.2 million, are of voting age 18 and above. That includes 4.5 million new adults who turned 18 since 2019, the last election.

Inoculations so far have only been for Priority A sectors: frontline health care workers; the elderly aged 60 and above; those with comorbidities and essential government and private workers like soldiers, policemen and those in the food, power and water supplies, transport and telecommunications services.

It is yet unclear when mass inoculations can commence for those aged 59 and below.

The Comelec, NGOs and political parties are encouraging voters to register. But Comelec sign-up centers frequently close down due to region-, province- and city-wide lockdowns. Plans are to extend the Sept. 30 deadline to make up for the disruptions.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved eight vaccines for emergency use. All are experimental, however. Thus only the national government may procure, even if funds come from private firms or local government units.

The State may restrict movement for the un-vaccinated, Barzaga said. That’s to contain the coronavirus and to promote public health, under the Constitution’s “General Welfare” clause.

President Rody Duterte has said he cannot wait for a law to punish un-vaccinated Filipinos and for the police and barangay officials to curtail movements. Barzaga said presidential certification of his bill as urgent can speed up passage. Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said such a law is needed before non-vaccinees can be sanctioned.

Civil rights lawyers invoke free choice on whether to be inoculated and with what brand. They oppose compulsory injections, much more vaccination passports.

Vaccine skepticism spiked in the Philippines in 2017-2019 due to the Dengvaxia controversy. Lawmakers accused the past administration of spending P3.5 billion to inoculate 850,000 fourth-graders with two jabs each in 2016 against the dengue virus. The to-do began when French maker Sanofi Pasteur announced unguaranteed efficacy on those who have not yet contracted the disease. Fifty-six deaths were alleged due to the three-year-old inoculant. Former President Noynoy Aquino was made to defend himself in congressional hearings. Charges of graft and gross misconduct were recommended.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines are 15 months old. Real world studies began only after the global rollout in December 2020. The government has spent P50 billion to indent 89 million doses.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines was at 80 percent last year. It has since dropped to 60, then 50 percent. Experts forecast doubts to dissolve once more doses arrive from abroad and made easily accessible. Realization that adverse effects are minimal convinced people to have jabs. Fear of death due to more virulent variants also trumps fear of injection.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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 counter-pandemic plan in his last year as President

No counter-pandemic plan in his last year as President

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

logo of Inter-Agency Task Force

GOTCHA

written on July 30, 2021

 

Does he still not get it, or is he just diverting the issue, critics ask.

President Rody Duterte the other night growled at Filipinos not vaccinated for COVID-19 to stay home lest they spew the “vee-rus” all over. As if it’s their fault for still not being vaccinated since the government’s rollout last March. Duterte used to single out only anti-vaxxers. Now he fumes against all unvaccinated folk.

But the issue is why tens of millions are not yet immunized. It’s because injections are coming only in trickles. Too, if doses do arrive, the distribution, cold storage and administering are spotty. Duterte’s vaccine czar, retired general Carlito Galvez, has been regularly apologizing for the mess. Lawmakers, having rushed the funding last year, now are asking where the vaccines are. Local officials who prepared the logistics mutter among themselves about the same. Under emergency-use authorization, only the national government may procure the doses, even if paid for by private companies and local government units. The first deliveries came only in March, two-and-a-half months behind neighboring countries.

People do want to be inoculated. They need protection against infection, to safely go to work for food and other basics. That’s why, as shown on TV news last week, they even lined up at dawn in cold rain and stinky flood to get jabbed.

That scene didn’t escape the President’s attention. In fact, he mentioned it in his State of the Nation Address last Monday. Without naming names, he even blamed the local official, as if the latter had control over the heavy monsoon storm. In truth, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno had rushed over to the inundated gym to help remedy the situation. The floods partly were due to nature, like rising sea levels. Plus, national government folly, like failure to unclog sewers and dumping of artificial white sand on the city’s beachfront.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on the pandemic needs to report and explain the numbers to Duterte:

• Last Wednesday, July 28, five months since rollout, a mere 17.5 million doses had been administered. Only 6.31 million adults, or 5.8 percent of the population, had been fully vaccinated; 10.4 percent got the first of two jabs. Duterte’s SONA promise of tripling the pace will hang on more dose arrivals, prompt logistics and swift injecting. That’s to achieve only 50-percent population protection by Christmas, scaled down from the original 75-percent herd-immunity target.

• Vaccine hesitancy has been declining. In March, four in five adults said they would refuse injections. In June it dropped to three in five. Only one in five is known to be a staunch refusenik.

The IATF might learn from readings that the drop in vaccine hesitancy is global. And it’s not due to harsh treatment of skeptics. Banning the unvaccinated from restaurants, cinemas and churches violates civil rights in most countries. Conversely, vaccine accessibility boosts immunization rates.

The Economist analyzed in its latest issue the steep hesitancy declines in 20 countries. Three trends emerged. One, the deluge of deliveries of doses to locales speeded up long-awaited injecting. Two, that friends and neighbors suffered no adverse effects convinced the doubters to get jabs. Three, fear of death due to vicious variants overcame the fear of injection.

In his SONA, Duterte said he does not know what to do with the unexpected pandemic that marred his economic targets. He can only listen to advisers, he said, “so let’s just pray to God for salvation.”

“Is this the same God he frequently curses?” former health secretary Esperanza Cabral wondered why Duterte did not spell out any counter-pandemic policy for his last year in office.

Surveyed by Pulse Asia a month before the SONA, majority of respondents said they wanted the President to talk about jobs, economic recovery and controlling consumer price spikes. Those issues hinge on astute pandemic response, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto noted. Only then can there be a return to normal.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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

Rejoicing Hidilyn’s 3-minute feat, not Duterte’s 3-hour SONA

Rejoicing Hidilyn’s 3-minute feat, not Duterte’s 3-hour SONA

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Hidilyn Diaz

GOTCHA

written on July 28, 2021

 

“Truly a lucky day for the Philippines,” a meme spread fast Monday, July 26: “First gold, last SONA.”

Hidilyn Diaz’s copping the Philippines’ first ever Olympic gold medal united Filipinos in rejoicing. The playing of Lupang Hinirang as the female weightlifter saluted the flag was a proud, tearful moment. It must have been personal vindication too for the struggling athlete. Two summers ago the presidential spokesman unfoundedly, maliciously red-tagged her as conspirator in smearing Rody Duterte.

Another viral meme deflated Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address, or SONA, that day. The acronym was cartooned to mean Speech Only, No Accomplishment.

Duterte expectedly enumerated “successes” to deflect international and domestic criticism of his bloody war on drugs. Streets supposedly are safer due to his 6,000 kill record. Exposure of nine police generals in narco-trade allegedly dented the syndicates. But on record he named only five generals in 2016, with no details or indictments for due process.

Figures from his own National Police appointees showed failure. Three million junkies snort three million grams – three tons – of shabu (meth) per week, they said in November 2019. Yet in the 156 weeks from July 2016 to June 2019, they interdicted only 4.4 tons of shabu – a mere one-and-a-half weeks’ consumption. Addiction persists because not medically addressed. International Criminal Court prosecutors decry the real kill record of 24,000 suspects as a crime against humanity. The P25-billion-a-week narco-trade thrives.

Duterte admitted as a flop his anti-corruption drive. He had exaggerated during the 2016 presidential campaign to wipe it out in three months. Three years later in his 2019 SONA he admitted it was impossible. But of course. Corruption can only be minimized by relentless prosecuting, empowering victims and moral regeneration. Besides, except perhaps for short-lived Ramon Magsaysay, all presidents had cronies and kin dipping sticky fingers in public coffers. Duterte has yet to disclose his latest Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, reminded Magdalo Rep. Manuel Cabochan after the SONA.

Duterte advised the next president to impose martial law and replace all public employees with youthful innocents. Ferdinand Marcos had tried that in 1972: padlocking Congress, emasculating the Judiciary and upturning the bureaucracy. By 1986 he and cronies had plundered $30 billion.

The seas are no safer than the streets. Tens of thousands of Luzon fishermen no longer venture to the West Philippine Sea due to harassment by Chinese coast guards and maritime militia. With wooden outriggers limited close to shore, their catch and income have dwindled.

Consumers suffer too, former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio lamented recently. Hundreds of Chinese steel trawlers, each longer than two basketball courts, poach millions of tons of fish in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines is forced to import galunggong (round scad) from China. The poor man’s fish that retailed at P117 a kilo in 2013 now costs P240, more expensive than chicken.

Duterte glossed over that Monday. He repeated his line at the UN General Assembly in September 2020. That is, the Philippine sea arbitral victory against China cannot be “diluted, diminished or abandoned.” Yet last May he called that triumph “a piece of trash paper,” which Beijing echoed on the ruling’s fifth anniversary on July 12. Duterte has ignored Carpio’s plea to rescind his 2017 verbal deal with China President and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping for Chinese to fish in Philippine exclusive economic zone.

Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure project worked only in the WPS, yet another meme poked. There China continually concreted seven stolen Philippine reefs into island fortresses.

Duterte trumpeted a bigger spending program than the past four administrations. It has hardly been felt. Unemployment was 8.7 percent, or 4.14 million workers, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported in April. Underemployment has worsened beyond 50 percent.

Government borrowings have more than doubled from P5.2 trillion in May 2016 to P11 trillion by April 2021. Each of 110 million Filipinos is in hock for P100,000, Senator Panfilo Lacson noted. Economists JC Punongbayan and Sonny Africa asked where the money went. Half of Filipino families, 49 percent, said they were worse off than last year, according to a recent Social Weather Station survey. Half also rated themselves poor; and one in six, 16.8 percent, suffered hunger in the past month.

Where did the bulk of the P6-trillion new borrowings go? The Finance department recorded P660 billion for emergency cash aid. The Health department spent $1 billion, or P50 billion, for 89 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Those are but a fraction – no more details in the three-hour SONA.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

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

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

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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  • 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.