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Presidential aides should stop feeding Duterte’s insecurities

Presidential aides should stop feeding Duterte’s insecurities

by | Nov 20, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Presidential aides should stop feeding Duterte’s insecurities

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay

Power-hungry aides feed Duterte’s insecurities

Presidential aides should stop feeding their boss’ insecurities. Malice incites more malice. They make him lose equanimity. Their own inadequacies are exposed. Distrust and despair spread. Filipinos lose.

All humans have fears. Kings, presidents, CEOs are not exempt. The burden of responsibility magnifies self-doubts in the mind of the leader. “It’s lonely at the top,” said American entrepreneur, author, podcaster Tim Ferris. “Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals.”

During President Rody Duterte’s taped national address in the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses, an aide was overheard whispering to him. Supposedly a group of students at UP-Diliman were asking “#NasaanAngPangulo?” at the height of the howler. Irked, Duterte threatened to cut the state university’s funding if they went on campus strike. His spox later had to clarify that the President apparently confused the UP uproar with that in nearby private Ateneo. Still, what did the whisperer gain? She likely thinks she became close to the President’s heart. But does she realize the disappointment of tens of thousands of other UP students, professors and staff, including at the Philippine General Hospital, at the prospect of less subsidies?

It was like how Duterte earlier upbraided pandemic medical frontliners. He had confused them with artists singing a Tagalog translation of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” whom he in turn confused with social media hecklers for him to resign. Apparently the daily political-intelligence briefers are giving Duterte a bum steer. What’s their agenda?

Power is coveted, sought and tightly held on to. From the animal kingdom to all human societies, power is the currency of success.

M. Ena Inesi, Assoc. Professor at London Business School &

Adam D. Galinsky, Chair of Mgt. Div. at Columbia Business School

Power-hungry aides feed Duterte’s insecurities

And which aides murmured to him that Vice President Leni Robredo was upstaging him in disaster rescue and relief? All the latter did was help typhoon victims in her limited means. But false whispers provoked Duterte to malign the woman for 20 minutes on national television. The whisperers again likely think they’ve become the boss’ favorites. But they distracted him from using the vast resources of the presidency for emergency action. They antagonized victims and aid donors witnessing the No. 1 official fulminating at the No. 2.

Leaders need A-1 info and advice to make sound judgments. But courtiers harbor personal agenda and can lead to the leader’s downfall, as Rasputin did. “Power is coveted, sought and tightly held on to,” wrote management professors M. Ena Inesi and Adam D. Galinsky. “From the animal kingdom to all human societies, power is the currency of success.” That’s why aides strive to be more proximate to the center than they already are. If fooled by the courtiers, The Prince ultimately is answerable, Machiavelli said.

The well-meaning will tell the leader like it is, in proper context. They will help him overcome insecurities. Psychologist Ellen Hendriksen, PhD, prescribes three antidotes:

  • Avoid emotional reasoning. Don’t mistake feelings for reality. 
  • Stop reading minds. It makes you think others are judging or rejecting you.
  • Don’t take things personally. Most likely it is nothing about you.

To those, spiritual advisers add the factor of the Almighty. They help leaders find solace in the Bible, Koran or Talmud. The devil capitalizes on one’s fears and self-doubts to sow division and discord. Leaders need grounding on a Supreme Being.

Duterte’s predecessors had their ups and downs. Cory Aquino got piqued and sued an opinion columnist for libel. Losing the court case pulled down her political stock.

Fidel Ramos tirelessly won over business and political critics via dialogue. One time he even alighted from the presidential limo to chat with youth protesters. His forehead bled when a placard accidentally hit him. Unperturbed, he simply wiped his wound with a hanky and explained his side of the issue. That won him admiration for sincerity.

Friends recruited a retired management coach to help Joseph Estrada sort out complex state matters. But the adviser quit, unable to stand the “midnight cabinet” of presidential drinking and mahjong buddies, who led to Erap’s downfall.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo excelled by picking the brains of specialists. She simplified her leadership style thus: “Do your best; let God do the rest.”

Noynoy Aquino deftly defied Chinese sea expansionism. But reliance on an inept economic team blinded him from the spreading corruption. The “#NasaanAngPangulo” clamor began during his tenure with the massacre of the SAF-44.

Duterte would do well to shun yes-men. They only infect him with a siege mentality, as if the whole world is against them. They seem to disbelieve the surveys showing 90-percent approval for the President. Maybe he should ask them why.

*      *      *

My latest book compilation of columns has been completed. “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is about corruption and illegalities that encourage China sea aggression. Watch out for the launch.

Power-hungry aides feed Duterte’s insecurities

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Why not tax ‘e-sabong’? It grosses P1.5 billion a day

Why not tax ‘e-sabong’? It grosses P1.5 billion a day

by | Nov 18, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Why not tax ‘e-sabong’? It grosses P1.5 billion a day

Image by ภาณุวัฒน์ ตรีคุณากรณ์ from Pixabay

Tax e-sabong, it grosses billions a day

The new online gambling craze “e-sabong” rakes in a staggering P1.5 billion a day. It is largely untaxed. Finance officials are squeezing only the usual sources of gaming revenues.

Taxmen had better wise up to the new cash cow. Casino and offshore gaming are down due to the pandemic. So are horseracing, lotto, small-town lottery and sweepstakes. Government thus can collect from them only a fraction of what it used to. On the other hand, “electronic sabong” suddenly is popular, also precisely due to COVID-19. Taxmen can make up for the shortfall, if they only figure out how.

The P1.5 billion comprises gross daily bets in live online cockfights. There are two major platform operators, plus a slew of small copycats, sources say. As the operators conservatively net ten percent or P150 million a day, they earn P55 billion a year. If that income is levied the usual one-third, the government can collect an extra P18 billion. That’s just for starters. More taxes can be taken from e-sabong service providers, like government did before the economic slump from casino and offshore gaming ancillaries.

E-sabong is deemed illegal. A 1974 law allows “cockfighting… only in licensed cockpits during Sundays and legal holidays and during local fiestas for not more than three days.” The Philippine National Police frequently warns the public against betting, or else face arrest. The implementing rules need revision. A way must be found to put e-sabong under state regulation by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Until then, Pagcor must crack down on it. The Bangko Sentral and the Anti-Money Laundering Council have been asked to look into earnings of operators.

Regulating and taxing e-sabong is the only way. Bettors can be protected; government can earn revenues.

Tax e-sabong, it grosses billions a day

           Still, e-sabong thrives 365 days a year. It has been around for a decade, but became a hit due to pandemic precautions. Aficionados need not crowd into cockfight arenas, but watch via smartphone. Avoiding coronavirus exposure, they bet online from a few thousands to millions of pesos. The odds are the usual parehas, walo-dies, walo-anim, onse, tres, sampu-anim or doblado.

Sources detailed the cash volume. Conservatively P5 million in bets are placed per sultada, or fight to the death. A sultada lasts about five minutes, to make 12 fights per hour, grossing P60 million. The games run for ten hours a day, for P600 million gross. That’s only for one online operator. Multiply that by three – two major operators and the combined take of the small ones – and the total daily bets reach more than P1.5 billion.

How is the money divvied up? Ninety percent goes to winner payouts. Operators keep ten percent, or P150 million a day. Part of that goes to any of the 1,634 cities or municipalities that allows e-sabong, videoed in any of the roughly 2,000 cockpits nationwide. Not to forget, the usual grease money to make law enforcers look the other way.

Regulating and taxing e-sabong is the only way. Bettors can be protected; government can earn revenues. For more than a century the government forbade jueteng, to no avail. Subsuming jueteng in 2006 into the charity sweepstakes’ small-town lottery has made billions for the government. Bribes to crooked mayors and cops have become official allocations for local governments and the police.

         No more taxes can be squeezed from POGOs, Philippine offshore gaming operators. Pandemic lockdown choked the live card gaming that caters only to offshore Chinese bettors.

Five operators and 12 service providers packed up in May after two months of standstill. Thousands of Chinese and Filipino workers were laid off. Though allowed up to 30 percent work capacity in June-September, two more POGOs served notice to close shop.

Bayanihan Act-2 hammered the last nail on the coffin. On finance officials’ advice, POGOs suddenly were slapped five-percent franchise tax. The rate was more than the operators’ retained bet earnings of 3.5 percent, from winning payouts of 96.5 percent, sources say. As POGOs folded up, so did ancillaries like call centers, food caterers, card shufflers, shuttle service and others.

The property sector also dipped. Almost 300,000 square meters or 17 percent of total office space will be abandoned by yearend, analyst David Leechiu says. Another 20-30 percent or half a million square meters will be vacated by POGOs next year.

Gone will be Pagcor’s multibillion-peso income from POGOs. From P73.42 million in 2016, Pagcor’s POGO take rose to P3.12 billion in 2017, P6.11 billion in 2018 and P5.73 billion in 2019. Gone too will be corporate and value-added taxes taken by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. As well, fees paid to the Immigration Bureau and the Labor Department.

In shifting focus to e-sabong, finance officials can learn from POGOs. Over-taxation kills the goose that lays the golden eggs.

*      *      *

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Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

by | Nov 16, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

Stop this blabber about the Filipino being resilient. It’s becoming an excuse to belittle disaster prevention for, after all, Filipinos readily will bounce back. Not only Filipinos but all races are sturdy, proved in separate rise of civilizations. Only a frog in the well thinks otherwise; for it the sky is as big only as the mouth of the well.

Cagayan Valley folk will have nowhere to go but back up. Still that doesn’t mean those who caused last Thursday night their worst flood in 40 years can be cleared of criminal liability. The culprits ignored science. They defied law and protocol. Pay they must.

Culpability can be gleaned from the alibis. Like, as a disaster agency spokesman said, the mighty Cagayan River, onto which Magat Dam spills, was swollen from weeks of rain before Thursday’s typhoon. Too, that eight inflow rivers from Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, and Isabela had filled Magat to the brim. Then as dam managers said, they began releasing water from two sluices two days before typhoon, but had to open all seven sluices as it raged, lest the dam break. And, as the Palace spox said, they were not caught flatfooted because they already had prepositioned typhoon relief. The officials were looking everywhere but the imminent harm to hundreds of thousands of people downstream of Magat.

Typhoon water volume is measurable by Doppler radar and other means. A simple call to the weather bureau would have told dam managers what to expect.

Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

           That 2020 is a La Niña year, hence extra rainy, was known since June. On Oct. 2 weathermen said the phenomenon would last not only till February, as earlier forecast, but November 2021. Using past La Niña records, dam managers could thus gradually have released more water earlier. This would have washed out to sea. As noted, Magat was filling up, and Cagayan River rising. They need not have waited for typhoon to soak the land before sluice opening.

The sluices should have been opened as early as three to four days before typhoon landfall, scientists said. After all, that’s the Magat management protocol. Besides, typhoon water volume is measurable by Doppler radar and other means. A simple call to the weather bureau would have told dam managers what to expect.

Now the dam managers are saying they issued enough flood warnings. Valley folk supposedly were alerted by radio, tv, text, and email to move to higher ground. But where, how? They opened the sluices in the dead of night. People were fast asleep when the river torrents smashed their homes.

It’s criminal negligence, the lawyer-governor of Cagayan province said. Magat down-flows have been ruining houses, farms, and shops every year.

There are other culprits: Bureaucrats tasked to preserve forests and clear the waterways. They must be grilled about flood-causing denudation and river clogging by industrial-commercial outfits.

Victims are planning to sue for damages. Their officials must support that, not just pat their backs for resiliency and blame all on nature.

* * *

Giving is infectious. Upon receiving cash aid, typhoon victims in Batangas City at once donated a part to similarly stricken folk in faraway Bicol.

Tzu Chi Foundation Phils. organized relief for 260 poor households in Tierra Verde community. Via cash-for-work, they were to clear their lots and roads of mud and rubble, and be fed for the day. In less than a week, the neighborhood was spic and span. Tzu Chi volunteers announced how much each family was to get: P20,000. Residents wept for joy at the unexpected amount, more than two months’ wage for most of them.

Most readily re-donated P1,000. Some, P500. Others ran home to get their piggy banks.

Returning P1,000, Julia de Villa, 64, said she was touched by the compassion of Tzu Chi founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen. A devotee of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Julia sets aside monthly donations for a Catholic charity. She said she will now also regularly give to Tzu Chi.

Melvin Dagli, 41, recently lost his overseas work due to the pandemic. After receiving the cash aid from Tzu Chi, he went home then came back with a plastic container filled with coins. It was his family’s emergency fund. He wished to give it to typhoon victims in Bicol, “or to anyone whom Tzu Chi deems in need of help.”

Nora Abacan, 49, cried on receiving P20,000. Two months ago, her husband Dante, 55, fell ill. Dante refused to see a doctor because of unaffordable diagnostics and medicines. Nora said they will use the money to have him undergo tests. Thankful, Dante feels less of a burden to his family.

Beatrice Pajarito, one of Tzu Chi’s cash recipients, shared with other typhoon victims. Their streets and homes have been cleaned so she said it was time to give back.

Beatrice Pajarito, 24, did not expect the huge amount. Her family shared some with other typhoon victims. Their streets and homes have been cleaned so she said it was time to give back.

Esperanza Javier, 50, will buy new furniture and beddings for her family. But she also promised to share with those in need, starting with her P1,000 donation.

Susan May Calalo, 53, doled P1,000, saying: “Tzu Chi’s sincerity in sharing deeply touched me. From the news I saw the situation of our fellowmen in Bicol. We are more blessed compared to them.”

* * *

Former Fisheries agency head Asis Perez and entrepreneur Norbert Chincuangco would rather remain unnamed. But they wish to publicize the need for repair kits, P2,000-P3,000 apiece, to thousands of Catanduanes fishermen whose bancas were wrecked by typhoon.

The fishermen were hit by triple whammy: typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses. The project is called “Mini Ahon Part 2.” If able to set out to sea again, the fishermen can feed themselves and no longer rely on relief.

Donations accepted: Tanggol Kalikasan Inc., Banco de Oro: 004210079580. Please private message or post your support on Norbert’s fb wall for proper accounting.

* * *

Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

Release of dam waters during typhoon ‘criminal’

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Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

by | Nov 11, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

Image by Abrão from Pixabay

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

A new law is to permit China’s coast guards to fire at vessels within its “jurisdictional waters”. This steps up Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea.

The law bolsters China’s bullying. “Jurisdictional waters” encroach Southeast Asian states’ exclusive economic zones that China’s communist rulers illegally claim.

The law exposes China’s duplicity as well. Beijing is in talks with ASEAN neighbors for a Code of Conduct in the SCS. Such CoC will not be a pact of equals. By escalating armed aggression, it is telling small neighbors it wants only docility from them.

“This opens the possibility of coast guard ships using more explicit armed force in disputed areas of the SCS,” the think tank Global Security reported last weekend. Beijing’s new legislation would let coast guards use rifles and deck-mounted weapons at will.

The Chinese Communist Party-Central Military Commission, which oversees the armed forces, first proposed the law in late September. A draft was posted on the National People’s Congress website Wednesday, Global Security’s Drake Long wrote. The measure is open for comments until Dec. 3, after which Congress deliberations commence.

The new law was “designed to intimidate,” analyzed Hunter Stires, a fellow with the US Naval War College. “The CCP is telling other claimant governments that China means business. This is a signal not to challenge China Coast Guard operations in waters that are rightfully the exclusive economic zones of Southeast Asian nations.”

There is no concrete definition of ‘jurisdictional waters’. Nor does China explicitly state what areas it considers to be covered under that term.

Global Security

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

Ostensibly the law is to use force against arms-smuggling, drugs-smuggling, hiding and abetting criminals, obstructing law enforcement and illegal economic activity by foreign vessels in China’s “jurisdictional waters.”

But China is expected to use it against legitimate fishing, exploration and patrol vessels of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. China gunboats escort poachers in the EEZs of those five countries. Its coast guards falsely claim the EEZs to be part of China’s “nine-dash line” sea jurisdiction. They machinegun, water-cannon and ram the unarmed civilian craft.

The Hague international court outlawed Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claim in July 2016. It upheld the Philippine complaint that China violated its sovereign rights in occupying Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, concreting seven reefs into island-fortresses and driving away Filipino fishermen.

The new Beijing law only formalizes what Chinese gunboats have been doing for years. Chinese maritime law enforcement claim that it is the five countries’ fishermen, operating in their respective EEZs, who trespass Chinese waters.

In 2013 four civilian maritime surveillance and enforcement agencies were placed under the China Coast Guard. Three years later the Coast Guard was subsumed by the People’s Liberation Army-Navy. The latter also organized thousands of fishing trawlers into a maritime militia to support military aggression in the neighbors’ EEZs.

“There is no concrete definition of ‘jurisdictional waters’,” Global Security noted. “Nor does China explicitly state what areas it considers to be covered under that term.”

China illegally occupies or patrols reefs 800 to 1,000 miles from its coast. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea grants littoral states 200-mile EEZs plus, if scientifically proven, additional 150 miles Extended Continental Shelf. China unilaterally claims two dozen reefs within the five neighbors’ EEZs, and well outside its own EEZ.

“The primary target of this move and China’s activity in the SCS are the (neighbors’) more than 3.7 million local civilian mariners who depend on access to the waters for their daily livelihood,” Long quoted Stires. “The Chinese Communist Party knows that it is the behavior and de facto acceptance by this large civilian population that will decide whether the UNCLOS remains in force in the SCS or is usurped by China’s hierarchical and continental vision of maritime sovereignty.”

The US State Department warned Beijing in July against any more sea aggression on its allies Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It warned of dire consequences should Beijing persist. The US is also strengthening the Quad Alliance with Japan, Australia and India for free access to the Indo-Pacific. The British, French and Canadian navies buttress US freedom-of-navigation patrols in the SCS.

Beijing has built missile pads, airstrips and naval ports in three of the seven concreted reefs.

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

Crucial provisions in an SCS Code of Conduct are status quo and non-military aggression. Before it is signed, Beijing intends to expand its control of reefs and waters, then claim that as start-off point for status quo. It feigns civilian Coast Guard patrols but actually is militarizing the region through its armed forces.

Beijing has built missile pads, airstrips and naval ports in three of the seven concreted reefs. It regularly lands fighters, bombers and troop transports on the artificial islands. From there its Navy and affiliated Coast Guard menace Filipino fishermen and patrol in Pagasa Island, Palawan; Recto Bank and Malampaya offshore gas field.

*      *      *

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

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

*      *      *

Law lets China gunboats fire at ships in SCS

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If only we can punish government crooks this way

If only we can punish government crooks this way

by | Nov 9, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

If only we can punish government crooks this way

Image by Pavlofox from Pixabay

If only we can punish government crooks this way

Sisamnes, a Persian judge, took a bribe and rendered an unjust verdict. King Cambyses II, ruler in 530-522 BC, son of Cyrus the Great, found out and decided to make an example of the corruption. Sisamnes was arrested and flayed. His skin was made into a chair for future judges to use, while reminded of the punishment that awaited crookedness.

It is unclear from the accounts of historian Herodotus if Sisamnes’ throat was slit first before he was skinned. But the 1498 painting of Gerard David depicted the gruesome punishment. With Sisamnes tied down to a table, expert flayers knifed away at his chest and legs.

(David’s “The Arrest of Sisamnes” and “Flaying of Sisamnes”, which together make up “The Judgment of Cambyses” diptych, hang in the Alderman’s Room of the Bruges City Hall, Belgium. More horrifying, Dirck Vellert’s stained glasswork “The Judgment of Cambyses”, 1542, is on display at the Rijsmuseum, Amsterdam.)

After the flaying, leather tanners proceeded to sew together the strips of skin into a chair. The king had decreed that all of Sisamnes’ successors were to sit in judgment on The Skin Chair with only fairness in mind.

Sisamnes’ immediate replacement as judge was none other than his son Otanes.

Justice was swift and brutal in ancient Persia. It was crucial for social cohesion of the empire. Thieves and traitors immediately were tied to a tree and left for birds, insects and wild animals to feast on to the bone. Slow excruciating death was meted to those who lied, cheated or stole. (Our Malay ancestors were said to be as rigid.)

Corruption is the cause of our people’s continuing poverty. We are ruled by politicos who cheat their way into elective and appointive positions.

If only we can punish government crooks this way

Many of us wish we can punish government crooks the same way. Corruption is the cause of our people’s continuing poverty. We are ruled by politicos who cheat their way into elective and appointive positions. In office they plunder with impunity, knowing they can get away with it by paying off equally crooked investigators, prosecutors, magistrates. People lose hope in the system which their parents and grandparents endured too. They end up selling their votes to the politicos for a quick buck every election year. And so it goes, in vicious cycle.

Occasionally a corrupt official would be exposed for momentary public scorn. But the culprits just wait out the media furor, then steal again when the coast is clear. They resume being called “Honorable”.

Corruption causes hunger and death. Often we witness people suffering not from natural disasters per se but from the aftermath of manmade neglect and theft of public coffers.

Modern justice balances retribution with rehabilitation. Mercy is sought more than penalty. The Constitution forbids cruel and brutal punishment.

The greedy take advantage and steal by the billions of pesos.

Sharing from a social media chat group:

Who invented the three rules to protect us from Covid-19 — do you know?

(1) Social distancing

(2) Wash your hands

(3) Use masks

We find these in the Bible — 3500 years ago the people of Israel were told:

  • Exodus 30:18-21. Wash your hands frequently.
  • Leviticus 13:4-5, 46. Keep your distance, cover the lower half of your face, and avoid all contact.
  • Leviticus 13:4-5. Anyone infected was to be isolated from seven to 14 days.

Meditating on the Good Book and its contexts, we begin to understand the universality of God’s Word.

* * *

Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

* * *

Gotcha archives: https://tinyurl.com/Gotcha-Archives

If only we can punish government crooks this way

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Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

by | Nov 6, 2020 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

Two questionable multibillion-peso government deals with under-financed firms have been brought to the anti-corruption mega task force.

First is the grant of collection rights of over P1.2 billion yearly electricity market fees to a company with only P7,000 paid-up capital. IEMOP (Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines) began collecting more than P100 million a month from electricity users in October 2018. Incorporators and directors include spouses of high Energy officials.

Second is the negotiated contracting of the P107-billion Manila International Airport expansion to an outfit worth only a third of MIA. In return Megawide Corp. will have the right to run the airport and raise terminal and other fees from passengers and users. It can replace all 14,000 MIA regular and contractual workers. That was bared in last month’s Congress deliberation on the Transport department’s 2021 budget. With assets of P17.9 billion, Megawide will take over operations from the P47-billion MIA Authority. Allegedly that breaches the required 70-percent capital or P32 billion.

Both deals fall within criterion of the new anti-sleaze super body, led by the Justice department, to investigate cases involving at least P1 billion. Administration Rep. Jericho Nograles (Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta) referred them to Justice Sec. Menardo Guevarra last Wednesday.

The IEMOP is collecting fees from every electricity consumer without any authority from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Rep. Jericho Nograles

Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

President Duterte’s anti-graft task force consists of the Dept. of Justice, Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Office of the President, Office of the Executive Secretary and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. Formed last week, the team is to go after government crooks till the end of Duterte’s term in 2022.

Writing to Guevarra, Nograles referred “two issues that Congress has discussed and continues to discuss, namely the IEMOP scandal and the Megawide unsolicited proposal for MIA enhancement scandal.”

Nograles expounded: “The IEMOP scandal is theft of the highest order. IEMOP is collecting fees from every electricity consumer without any authority from the Energy Regulatory Commission. To this date, the ERC does not recognize the existence of IEMOP and there is no legislative or executive action to give IEMOP any legal authority to collect billions of pesos from consumers. The continued collection of IEMOP suggests that certain officials are complicit in this scandal, and therefore in violation of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).”

Nograles went on: “The Megawide scandal has been questioned in plenary sessions of the House of Representatives as to why the company continues to enjoy Original Proponent Status from MIAA when the National Economic and Development Authority has already determined the proposal to be insufficient as of August 2020. The continued enjoyment of OPS, among other questionable actions, is a clear violation of R.A. 3019.”

IEMOP’s takeover of the government’s collection of electricity wholesale fees was first questioned in late 2009 by Rep. Rosanna Vergara (Nueva Ecija), the majority coalition’s expert on the power industry. Nograles uncovered in January 2020 the transfer of government equipment and other assets to the private firm, whose executives earn million-peso monthly remuneration. Energy officials denied any dubiousness then.

Nograles exposed the Megawide negotiated deal in August. A super-consortium of seven conglomerates had backed out of the MIA expansion because transport officials suddenly changed the contract terms. The officials then offered Megawide softer terms, Nograles noted. Fellow-administration Rep. Jesus Suntay elicited during transport budget debates Megawide’s privilege to fire 14,000 MIA employees. The company later said it would rehire or retain those who opt to stay.

“My office is ready and willing to assist your Department and task force for any and all information regarding these scandals,” Nograles assured Guevarra.

 *      *      *

Twenty-seven million lost their jobs from the pandemic economic slump. All the while, high officials are politicking.

No homes, no livelihoods, no aid. That’s what victims of Sunday’s super typhoon are suffering. As well, those of recent earthquakes, floods, landslides. Twenty-seven million lost their jobs from the pandemic economic slump.

All the while, high officials are politicking. They’re working on the Supreme Court to declare failure of the 2016 election – to unseat the Vice President and install a loser. Yet in tedious vote recounts by the electoral tribunal, that loser has failed to prove fraud in the very provinces he claims to have been cheated. The officials want to shortcut the process while people are distracted by hunger and hardship.

Crass neglect of people’s needs is unjust. Injustice can divide the nation and incite civil discontent. The military will be left to quell unrest – till conscience tells it to withdraw support from unjust political rulers.

Let’s learn from the 1986 People Power Revolution. That loser was on the wrong side of history then.

*      *      *

Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

Gotcha archives: https://tinyurl.com/Gotcha-Archives

Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

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

 

What User Data We Collect

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

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Why We Collect Your Data

We are collecting your data for several reasons:

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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

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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.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.