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Marcos stifled state auditors, dissenting lawmakers

Marcos stifled state auditors, dissenting lawmakers

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

Photo from Wikipedia

GOTCHA

written on September 22, 2021

 

Picture yourself waking up one morning and there’s no Youtube, Facebook or TikTok. Your WiFi and mobile won’t connect. After hours of fidgetting with your gadgets, you find out that your neighbors too have no signal. One of them arrives from night shift and narrates what he saw in the streets. Soldiers in full battle gear have set up checkpoints with machineguns and tanks. Civilians are made to alight from vehicles and frisked. Long hair of males and miniskirt hems of females are scissored there and then. Resisters are slapped, handcuffed and bundled off in cage vans. To where, nobody knows. Stay indoors, you advise each other, though unsure if that’s even safe. Fear sets in with the eerie realization that you’re cut off from the rest of the world.

Ferdinand Marcos in fact employed those shock tactics on Sep. 23, 1972. Filipinos awoke to dead radios, television and phones. No newspapers either. The unsuspecting who went about their usual ways were brutalized in the streets. Crack troops trained to fight communist and separatist rebels were deployed to the cities for maximum effect. Marcos schemed for a year to illegally extend his tenure via martial law, the opposition had warned. Nobody expected it to be that savage.

Only two days later did Marcos announce the martial law signing as of Sept. 21. He had padlocked Congress, all media outlets and selected civilian offices. Opposition lawmakers were arrested, along with labor and peasant leaders, civil rights lawyers, priests, professors and student activists. All were tagged as “conspiring with communists to burn the city of Manila.” Marcos proclaimed that he was going to save society. In the following years thousands were abducted, detained without charges, tortured, raped and murdered.

Today’s would-be authoritarians imitate Marcos’ playbook. Marcos alibied that the perennial deadlock between Malacañang and Congress forced him to abolish the latter. He also abolished the vice presidency because he was his own successor. For thought control, he confiscated ABS-CBN and gave it to a crony and government appointee. He assigned that same fraternity-mate to publish a state-controlled daily. Two other newspapers subsequently opened, one by Marcos’ brother-in-law, the other by his aide-de-camp.

Intolerant of state auditors, Marcos stripped them of independence and put them under his command. He packed the Comelec with his supporters and designated as chairman a partymate who lost in the previous senatorial election. The bureaucracy was made to swear by Marcos’ New Society or else be dismissed. He filled the Supreme Court as well with law school classmates. To make the message sink in, the Chief Justice was assigned to carry the First Lady’s parasol.

Having stifled dissent and established control of national and local governments, Marcos proceeded to the next stage of one-man rule. He parceled off to cronies the major industries: sugar, coconut, oil, mining, shipping, airlines, telecoms, construction. He borrowed left and right in the name of the government for crony businesses. Together with them, his conjugal dictatorship plundered the economy of $30 billion.

Authoritarianism can recur if citizens let down their guard. Democracy is a system that needs constant improving and protecting.

(Tune in to the four-day webinar, “Essential Truths on the Martial Law Years,” Sep. 21-24, 2021, 3-5 p.m. HRVVMC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hrvvmemcom. Guest lecturers include former Historical Commission chief Dr. Ma. Serena Diokno, former Human Rights’ Victims Claims Board Atty. Byron Bocar, torture victims and freedom fighters.)

*      *      *

Yellow-ribbon tagging of COVID-19 infectees’ houses is dangerous. It will stigmatize them at a time when they need help the most. Such insensitive brute-force treatment is no different from cussing and ordering “shoot-on-sight” of non-vaccinees when there are hardly any doses available.

The better approach is one with heart. Barangay officials must determine what the quarantined infectees need. With charitable volunteers, they can then quietly deliver hot meals, fresh fruits, water, medicines, vitamins, soap, disinfectant, face masks, disposable diapers, trash bags and other basics.

Let the spirit of sharing reign. Emulate the community pantries, where neighbors gave what they could and took only what they needed.

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

Will VP candidate Duterte bare SALN, state of health?

Will VP candidate Duterte bare SALN, state of health?

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of President Rodrigo Duterte

GOTCHA

written on September 17, 2021

 

Rodrigo Duterte accepted last week his party’s vice presidential draft for Election 2022. In effect he opened himself to voter scrutiny.

As president, Duterte evades two basic disclosures. First, the yearly sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Second, his true state of health.

Further evasion can become an election issue. Filipinos expect candidates to be upfront. SALNs and physical-mental clearances thus are voluntarily publicized. Candidate Duterte will have to follow suit.

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear. Witholding wealth and health records, while other VP contenders disclose theirs, will invite derision for Duterte. Bluster and cussing in televised pandemic updates won’t suffice. His spokesman and chief legal counsel cannot obfuscate for him as usual. Running in his senatorial ticket, they will be busy explaining their own financial and psychiatric makeups.

The Constitution requires SALNs. Procedures are in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Filers must waive bank secrecy for tax examination.

Duterte last disclosed a SALN for 2017. He keeps confidential his SALNs for 2018, 2019 and 2020. He is the only president in 30 years to refuse SALN publicity. He breaks his own Freedom of Information orders on the Executive branch.

Early this month Ombudsman Samuel Martires rejected the request of Senator Leila de Lima for copies of Duterte’s SALNs. Duterte found that as a new excuse to continue witholding the documents.

But Martires is just one citizen. The desire for transparency of 62 million voters far outweighs his opinion. Duterte will be hard put to resist.

Duterte’s health status will be a valid issue too. He will turn 77 before Election Day. Every time he wobbles on stage and with slurred speech, voters will ask if he can still hurdle a six-year tenure.

Duterte admits to be diagnosed with Buerger’s disease and Barrett’s esophagus. Also, to suffering migraine and back pains from a motorcycling accident. He is on a cocktail of medications and painkillers. Voters will want to know if those destabilize his physique, emotions and mental faculties.

Rodrigo Duterte accepted last week his party’s vice presidential draft for Election 2022. In effect he opened himself to voter scrutiny.

As president, Duterte evades two basic disclosures. First, the yearly sworn Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Second, his true state of health.

Further evasion can become an election issue. Filipinos expect candidates to be upfront. SALNs and physical-mental clearances thus are voluntarily publicized. Candidate Duterte will have to follow suit.

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear. Witholding wealth and health records, while other VP contenders disclose theirs, will invite derision for Duterte. Bluster and cussing in televised pandemic updates won’t suffice. His spokesman and chief legal counsel cannot obfuscate for him as usual. Running in his senatorial ticket, they will be busy explaining their own financial and psychiatric makeups.

The Constitution requires SALNs. Procedures are in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Filers must waive bank secrecy for tax examination.

Duterte last disclosed a SALN for 2017. He keeps confidential his SALNs for 2018, 2019 and 2020. He is the only president in 30 years to refuse SALN publicity. He breaks his own Freedom of Information orders on the Executive branch.

Early this month Ombudsman Samuel Martires rejected the request of Senator Leila de Lima for copies of Duterte’s SALNs. Duterte found that as a new excuse to continue witholding the documents.

But Martires is just one citizen. The desire for transparency of 62 million voters far outweighs his opinion. Duterte will be hard put to resist.

Duterte’s health status will be a valid issue too. He will turn 77 before Election Day. Every time he wobbles on stage and with slurred speech, voters will ask if he can still hurdle a six-year tenure.

Duterte admits to be diagnosed with Buerger’s disease and Barrett’s esophagus. Also, to suffering migraine and back pains from a motorcycling accident. He is on a cocktail of medications and painkillers. Voters will want to know if those destabilize his physique, emotions and mental faculties.

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

Senators suspect ghost deliveries by influence-peddling Pharmally

Senators suspect ghost deliveries by influence-peddling Pharmally

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

logo of Pharmally

GOTCHA

written on September 15, 2021

 

Pharmally Inc. of presidential Chinese friend Michael Yang was an influence peddler. “Laway lang ang puhunan,” investigating senators said. Yang, President Duterte’s special economic adviser, pulled political strings. Pharmally acted as go-between of Chinese traders and the admin’s Procurement Service-Dept. of Budget and Management. It cornered P12 billion in sales to the government of pricey pandemic gear.

In one deal alone of seven in 2020, Pharmally profited P1.5 billion. Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed records. It sold two million sets of personal protective equipment (PPEs) at P1,910 each. The supplier in China was paid P1,150, for 66-percent mark-up of P760 per set.

“We need to scrutinize if the government and taxpayers were defrauded,” Lacson said. “Our children and their children will be repaying the loans for the PS-DBM purchases. Was the people’s money properly spent?”

Despite financial-technical incapacity, Pharmally was the favorite. Goods were paid for even before delivery, Senator Francis Pangilinan said. Pharmally then used the cash bonanza to buy the contracted supplies. The Chinese suppliers were not manufacturers but mere traders. Filipino makers and dealers of medical gear repeatedly were elbowed out, as no public biddings were announced and held.

From puny cash capital of P625,000 Pharmally grossed 19,000 times its worth. The P12-billion windfall surfaced at Monday’s hearing of the Blue Ribbon committee. Earlier hearings had fleshed out only P8.7 billion, then P10 billion.

Pharmally’s first deal was on March 25, 2020, a week into the government’s Luzon-wide lockdown. It was only six months old, with no office, experience, inventory, import permit, letter of credit or bank guarantee.

Circumstances showed irregularities, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said. PS-DBM emailed Pharmally at 2:24 p.m. seeking price quotation on 500,000 pieces surgical masks, not to exceed P28 apiece and budget of P8 million.

Three hours later, 5:11 p.m., Pharmally delivered the truckloads of stocks, employee Krizle Mago claimed at the Senate. “Like ordering a sandwich by Grab Delivery!” Blue-Ribbon chairman Richard Gordon remarked.

It did not matter to Pharmally that the request was only for a quotation. Meaning, that the PS-DBM email presumably was sent to other sellers who might quote lower prices and thus bag the deal.

Nor did it matter that the PS-DBM figures were defective: 500,000 multiplied by P28 was P14 million, not the stated P8-million ceiling. Such lapse would have spurred further inquiries from email recipients. PS-DBM should have corrected itself for clarity and legality. At 1:19 p.m. the next day, March 26, Pharmally emailed its price quotation: P27.72 x 500,000 = P13,860,000.

Only on April 6 did PS-DBM email a purchase order. On April 15 Pharmally collected the amount, minus five-percent VAT and one-percent warranty retention. In a report by the Commission on Audit, the PS-DBM purchase order was issued April 16, the day after payment to Pharmally.

Drilon suspected ghost delivery. Pharmally director Linconn Ong claimed to have arranged the speedy trucking from Tiger Philippines Inc. He refused to reveal the acquisition price and stammered that he knew the Chinese owner and longtime friend only as “Brother Tiger.”

PS-DBM head Lloyd Christopher Lao swore to have been surprised with the delivery but deduced that it was Pharmally’s way of impressing them of its capability. Supposedly he did not accept nor pay the stocks at once.

In a recent telecast Duterte said Lao, a college fraternity-mate, provided legal services to Davao City Hall during his 22-year mayoralty. In 2016-2021 he appointed him to three successive Malacañang positions “out of utang na loob” (debt of gratitude). Duterte added that he met Yang 20 years ago doing business in Davao.

PS-DBM inspection reports were signed even before supply deliveries. Inspection chief Jorge Mendoza admitted doing so twice, under questioning by Pangilinan. PPEs from China had yet to arrive in Manila but higher-ups ordered them to certify the merchandise. Assistant Mervin Tanquintic confirmed the anomaly. PS-DBM accountants allegedly made them sign without seeing the goods to speed up payment to the Chinese.

Of the P12-billion sales, Pharmally filed only P10 billion in its 2020 income tax return. Suspecting tax evasion, Senator Imee Marcos requested records from the Bureaus of Customs and of Internal Revenue.

Unfamiliar with medical supplies, Pharmally’s deliveries were faulty. Test kits arrived unusable because the swabbing and extraction accessories arrived two months later, Pangilinan said. At that time frontline health care workers were getting infected and dying due to lack of test kits and substandard PPEs.

Drilon sought subpoena of PS-DBM and other agency files on four Pharmally deals:

• 41,400 RT-PCR test kits, at P69,500 each, for P2,877,300,000;

• 17,000 RT-PCR test kits, at P45,550 each, for P774,350,000;

• Three million N95 face masks, P100 each, for P300,000,000; and

• 312 DNA/RNA extraction kits, P787,968 each, for P245,846,016.

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

Official party nomination makes Duterte fair game

Official party nomination makes Duterte fair game

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

Wikipedia photo of a crocodile

GOTCHA

written on September 10, 2021

 

Photos of crocodiles that circulated online Wednesday were hair-raising. Online Wednesday were hair-raising. Captions stated that a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban convened swamp-side in Pampanga. Proclaimed was a Go-Duterte presidential-VP tandem for Election 2022. At once netizens peppered the event website with a differently punctuated post: “Go, Duterte, go away.”

A blog quoted President Duterte as “overwhelmed and feeling like crying” at his VP nomination. Readers reacted that crocodile tears are insincere expressions of remorse or sorrow.

The official party endorsement made Duterte fair game.

Rage was palpable. So reviled was Duterte’s repeated justification of his admin’s purchase of pricey pandemic paraphernalia from a Chinese trader-friend. There was no public bidding for the P10-billion deal, senators have exposed.

That foreigner is a presidential economic adviser. His Pharmally Corp. was only eight months old; undercapitalized at P625,000; with no office, experience and import permit when granted 16,000 times its worth in May 2020. Two partners were figutives wanted in Taiwan for embezzlement and stock fraud.

The Duterte-appointed purchasing officer allegedly eased Filipino suppliers out of the government transaction. A Philippine Air Force plane had to fetch the private cargo from China, Senator Panfilo Lacson said, although the National Task Force Against COVID-19 head denied it.

Nearly 35,000 have died of COVID-19, 151,000 infectees are suffering in hospitals and homes and last year 27 million lost livelihoods. Yet certain admin officials and pals apparently profited from the health crisis.

Netizens labeled as “diversionary” Duterte’s ad hominem attacks against the investigating senators. The President insulted Lacson’s hair and Richard Gordon’s girth, like his past references to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno’s briefs and law dean-critic Chel Diokno’s teeth. Along with Senator Imee Marcos, Duterte alleged, they are all just politicking since election time is near. Bloggers found “shallow” his alibi to unconstitutionally run for VP – that is, to be able to advise and help the next admin if needed. He can do that even if out of office, they riposted.

Rediscovered and shared was the court’s mental health assessment in 1998 in annulling Duterte’s marriage. As reported in The Independent of London, he had “antisocial narcissistic personality disorder.” In addition, “gross indifference, insensitivity and self-centeredness.” Also, “grandiose sense of self-entitlement and manipulative behaviours.” Plus, “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights and feelings,” and “unable to reflect on the consequences of his actions.” More: “unhealthy and destructive behaviors,” “poor capacity for objective judgment, “[failing to] see things in the light of facts.” In conclusion, “psychologically incapacitated… due to inability for loyalty and commitment [and] lack of capacity for remorse and guilt.”

On the sidelines, Duterte’s spokesman mimicked him in demeaning outsiders. At the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, he cut off and yelled at two private doctors who were presenting situationers. The IATF had invited the two as convenors of 54 medical societies under Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19.

The societies represent half a million physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses. Days prior, HPAAC proposed four actions: digitized, interconnected contact tracing; linking local governments and hospitals with the One Hospital Command Center; safety of Filipino workers and release of health care workers’ benefits and allowances.

At the IATF, the two HPAAC convenor-doctors reiterated that they didn’t wish to be misconstrued as picking a fight. Fatigue was setting in and can overwhelm hospitals, they worried. Whereupon, the spokesman argued why doctors thought they were the only ones tired when government officials too needed to catch some sleep.

The spokesman also belittled as political gimmickry Mayor Moreno’s request to increase procurements of COVID-19 medicines instead of face shields. The World Health Organization does not even prescribe face shields, from which Pharmally profited nearly P300 million. That was too close for comfort for the defensive spokesman who, incidentally, is politicking for senator in 2022.

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

Fake ‘malasakit’ for soldiers, health workers in 2022 budget

Fake ‘malasakit’ for soldiers, health workers in 2022 budget

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

photo from Philippine News Agency

GOTCHA

written on September 8, 2021

 

Last Aug. 30, Araw ng Kagitingan, President Duterte heroized health workers fighting the killer virus. Hospital nurses, orderlies and lab techs were indifferent. At noon they walked out of their jobs in protest of long unpaid special risk allowances. “If they truly care, then why withhold what is due us?” their leaders lamented.

Mandated by the Magna Carta for Health Workers, the SRAs were allocated by Congress in early 2020. Beneficiaries were to get P34,000 on average for COVID-19 ward duty. When the health workers first decried the non-payments in September and again in December last year, Malacañang vowed swift action. Still, cash releases were delayed and incomplete. Deaths, infection and fatigue were decimating the frontlines. Fed up, they took to the streets.

Two days later at the House of Reps came a shocker. The 2022 national budget submitted by Malacañang does not provide for SRAs. Isn’t the pandemic expected to go on, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo asked. Health Sec. Francisco Duque stammered that the SRAs were bundled into the Bayanihan 3 bill, pending since May.

That’s wrong, Quimbo pointed out. Bayanihan 3 is unsure to pass, because not deemed a priority by Malacañang. But if included in a budget law, a yearly constitutional requirement, SRA funding for 2022 can be assured. Besides, the SRAs in Bayanihan 3 are mere leftovers from the expired Bayanihan 2 act, insufficient for the 148,000 frontline health workers.

In his Aug. 30 telecast, Duterte harangued senators and congressmen questioning his admin’s pandemic spending. Supposedly they do not care for soldiers’ welfare, unlike him who visits and sleeps in military camps.

Two days later at the House surfaced another shocker. Malacañang has zero provision in 2022 for hospitalization of soldiers and veterans, and for hospital gear. What’s going on, party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles wondered. Our soldiers are not bulletproof and COVID-proof. How will Armed Forces’ main and field hospitals, clinics and dispensaries operate?

Nograles cited the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. VMMC had sought P300 million to replace its decrepit cobalt-60 cancer therapy machine, P90 million for magnetic resonance imaging, P36 million to build an endoscopy center, P35 million to upgrade its pulmonary ICU and P29 million to renovate the radiotherapy unit. Total: P455 million.

The Dept. of Budget and Management scrapped all those, Nograles gleaned from Palace submissions. A footnote suggested that the Dept. of National Defense get the funds from VMMC’s golf course income. Yet that income is only P2 million a year, reduced further by pandemic restrictions.

Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana couldn’t explain the budget deletions. Notably for 2021, the DND got P1.786 billion for hospitalization and equipment, including for reservists.

Comparisons are inevitable. Pharmally Inc. of Duterte’s Chinese friend Yang Hong Ming, alias Michael Yang, is privileged. The trading firm was only eight months old; under-capitalized at P625,000; with no office, experience and income in May 2020. Yet the admin handed it more than P10 billion (not P8.7 billion as earlier reported) for pandemic supplies. The face shields, surgical masks and personal protective wear allegedly were overpriced. Malacañang appointee, Procurement Service-DBM head Lloyd Christopher Lao, held no public biddings.

In August 2020 Duterte taunted frontline doctors and health workers to revolt, when all they wanted was time out to reassess the admin’s pandemic response. Duterte took months to fire crooked, inept PhilHealth designees for overdue professional fees of doctors and reimbursements to hospitals.

Duterte named foreigner Yang as presidential special economic adviser, and Lao as PS-DBM chief out of “utang na loob.” He praised Yang’s buddy, former Chinese ambassador Zhao Jianhua, as a colonel of the People’s Liberation Army. In February 2020, a PLA warship trespassing the West Philippine Sea, aimed its weapons on a Philippine Navy patrol. PLA combat aircraft harass Filipino sailors and airmen resupplying Marines in Pagasa Island and Ayungin Shoal. Duterte has been silent.

*      *      *

San Miguel Corp. has tapped foremost city planner Arch. Felino Palafox Jr. to make its airport and aerocity project in Bulacan a model for green urbanization. Palafox is to master-plan the P740-billion New Manila International Airport as an environmentally sustainable and disaster-resilient architecture. The 2,500-hectare site is in seaside Bulakan town.

SMC president-COO Ramon S. Ang and Palafox agree to avoid the woes that afflict Philippine cities: pollution, floods, overcrowding and traffic. “We will clean the air and clear the river systems,” Ang says. “We will establish mangrove forests all over Bulacan and neighboring provinces to enhance biodiversity and mitigate tidal flooding.”

“I’m aligned with the mission-vision of Mr. Ang,” Palafox says. The five-runway aerodrome and surrounding city is only 15 minutes by tollway from Metro Manila. But unlike the metropolis’ central business districts, it will be livable. Workers will be able to walk to offices, dining and leisure spots. Basic needs and waste management will be topmost.

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

Duterte admits ‘utang na loob’ behind appointment of Lao

Duterte admits ‘utang na loob’ behind appointment of Lao

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

National Government Portal hoto of Procurement Service Usec. Llyod Christoper Lao

GOTCHA

written on September 3, 2021

 

“Ang isda nahuhuli sa bunganga.” The P8.7-billion purchase of pandemic gear from an unqualified supplier is scandalous. Senators aim to catch the culprits.

President Rody Duterte tried to blunt their inquiry with his taped telecast Thursday. In blurting details only he knows, he incriminated himself.

Duterte practically connected the dots. On one side is his college fraternity-mate Atty. Lloyd Christopher Lao. Duterte said Lao provided legal services for Davao City Hall during his mayoralty. As presidential prerogative, he appointed him in succession to three key posts in Malacañang. The last was as head of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management.

It’s natural for an official to appoint someone he knows and trusts, Duterte asserted. Besides, he growled, what’s wrong with repaying “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude).

On the other side is Duterte’s longtime businessman-friend Michael Yang whom he met in Davao City two decades ago. He called him a “pagador (paymaster) of Chinese businessmen.” A Malacañang video shows Yang accompanying fellow Chinese to meet the President. Duterte made him presidential consultant.

If senators were to draw a matrix as criminal investigators do, Duterte will be the central link. Two previous hearings established the ties between Lao and Yang.

PS-DBM head Lao ordered from Yang pricey personal protective equipment in May 2020. Yang’s Pharmally Inc. is not a manufacturer but a mere trader. It was only eight months old, undercapitalized at P625,000 and had zero income. Yet Lao granted Pharmally P8.7 billion in state funds – 13,920 times its worth.

Corruption and procurement laws repeatedly were broken, Senate Blue-Ribbon head investigator Richard Gordon said. Lao admitted neglecting to check Pharmally’s shady background. Its officers and partners are wanted fugitives in Taiwan, Senator Risa Hontiveros bared.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque alibied no harm-no foul; the supplies were supposedly delivered anyway. The Senate has yet to verify that. Minority Leader Franklin Drilon called it “premeditated plunder.”

Three elements make a crooked deal plunder, no bail and with life sentence. One, the amount is over P50 million. Two, a series or combination of crimes was committed. Three, the culprits benefited. From records, Pharmally instantly made nearly P300-million income.

The repayment of “utang na loob” here was not in Duterte’s personal capacity. It consisted of three official postings. Headship of PS-DBM was sensitive. The small office procures annually hundreds of billions of pesos in government common use supplies, like pens and paper.

The budget secretary has no control over PS-DBM. He supervises it only administratively; meaning, his office merely releases the salaries and operating expenses. In case of vacancy the Office of the President may appoint the PS-DBM head.

The 2020 report of the Commission on Audit sparked the Senate inquiry. Among the COA findings were document deficiencies for P67.3 billion in Department of Health pandemic spending. Of that total, the DOH had transferred P42 billion to PS-DBM without the requisite memorandum of agreement.

Senators found it irregular. There was no official DOH authority for PS-DBM to procure special paraphernalia, Drilon said. The DOH has its own bids and awards committee, expert in medical-grade supplies.

Bulk of the P42 billion went to face masks and shields. The masks were overpriced at P27 apiece; the shields at P120. Gordon said the Philippine Red Cross, which he chairs, purchased those at the same time for only P5 and P15 respectively.

Senate President Tito Sotto has been questioning why the Philippines is the only country that requires face shields against COVID-19. Not even the World Health Organization recommends it.

Duterte resented the audit of his administration. He ordered the independent Constitutional COA to not post its findings online. He illegally instructed his Cabinet to ignore the body.

Duterte even asked in an earlier telecast who audits the COA anyway. Impliedly the guardians of the public coffers are unchecked, so have no right to check others.

Actually COA has an internal auditor like all government agencies. In fact, hours before Duterte’s tirade, the internal auditor posted the 2020 findings on the COA.

Does Duterte wish to take his line of reasoning to its logical conclusion? Which is, if he doesn’t want audits, then his admin must stop exacting taxes. With no tax collections, the admin will have nothing to spend. With no spending, there’s nothing to audit. In short, no taxation without audit.

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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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.