IN the unfolding months of 2013, during PNoy’s watch, a scandal broke out on the misuse by members of both houses of Congress of their “pork barrel” funds. This was the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. These are lump-sum amounts granted to each member of the two houses to spend for their priority projects. These public funds were, through some complicated scheme, funneled through NGOs affiliated with Janet Napoles, a businesswoman with extensive political connections. Many of these projects turned out to be fictitious; but the monies amounting to billions of pesos were diverted and shared principally by the senators and congressmen with Napoles.
Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (current senator) got hold of a list of participants in the scam containing 80 names, a list of a veritable “who’s who” of the highest echelons of the legislative branch — the honorable senators and congressmen of the land. Lacson submitted the list to the Senate blue ribbon committee that included nine 2013 incumbent senators. Those in the list with varying amounts, from a few million pesos to hundreds of millions and even a billion of “pork,” scrambled all over each other denying their participation. Most of those immediately “exonerated” were members of President PNoy’s party.
After an investigation by various agencies of government, the Commission on Audit (CoA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima filed cases of plunder and malversation of public funds against three senators: Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada, and five former members of the House.
In June of the following year, the Office of the Ombudsman indicted the three senators for plunder and multiple counts of graft, along with Napoles as co-accused. Plunder cases are non-bailable.
As the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Oct. 18, 2018) reported:
“Revilla was accused of plunder and 16 counts of graft after allegedly pocketing P224.5 million in kickbacks, the biggest among the three senators. Estrada was accused of plunder and 11 counts of graft for allegedly accepting P183 million in kickbacks from his PDAF allocations from 2004 to 2010. Enrile was accused of receiving P172.8 million in kickbacks from his PDAF allocations. He also faces 15 counts of graft for the alleged misuse of the PDAF.
After warrants for their arrest were issued, the three senators surrendered and Enrile was detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital while Estrada and Revilla were detained at the PNP Custodial Center, both in Camp Crame.
Citing his advanced age and poor health, the Supreme Court granted bail to Enrile in August 2015. In April 2017, the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division denied Enrile’s appeal to throw out the charge on the grounds that the allegations did not constitute the elements of a valid plunder case.
Estrada won his bail petition in September 2017, but a separate graft trial denied his motion to dismiss the case. Revilla’s case was the first to go to trial, which began in June 2017. He remains detained at Camp Crame.”
But this is not just a story of the Napoles and the PDAF corruption. Enrile, 90 years old, out on bail, filed his certificate of candidacy (CoC) for senator for the May 2019 elections. So did Jinggoy Estrada, out on bail, accompanied by his convicted plunderer ex-president father, now mayor of Manila, Joseph Estrada. Revilla, while still in prison, filed his CoC through his wife Lani, the mayor of Bacoor, Cavite.
There is the unfolding narrative of these former senators, incarcerated but two out on bail, who are now vying for the same position in the mid-term elections, the same positions from which they were accused of shamelessly stealing money from the people.
And they could win again. With the help of the idiocy of the Filipino voters with their short memories, a forgiving culture and a distorted sense of values; these three branded names could be propelled to the “august halls of the Senate,” once again lawmakers addressed officially as “Honorable.” No wonder the Philippines ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world. But this is the worst type of corruption — that of our moral values.
There are more than 50 serious names in the senatorial list for the midterm elections for only 12 available positions. The rest are the perennial nuisance candidates, crackpots and limelight seekers who get a rush when allotted their 15 minutes of fame. Anecdotal evidence suggests voters will fill up only 5 to 8 names in a ballot. Branded names and incumbents therefore have this built-in advantage, not to mention the support of their political dynasties in their home base and inexhaustible logistics. The hordes of command votes controlled by religious formations, charismatic charlatans and those purported to be God’s own tend to favor these candidates who are familiar with how the political game is played once elected to power. They understand how spoils are shared; and how “…to render unto Cesar, what is Cesar’s, and to God, what is His…” (see The Manila Times, Oct. 24, 2018).
What we need for our country’s benefit is to put in place decent men and women steeped in the rule of the law. We require therefor a discerning voter who has not lost the ability to be disturbed and the passion to be angry. What we have instead are voters that merely go through these tired names and elect the “winnables,” the branded names and the leaders who at best are merely capable of moderating their greed.
Aside from the three senator-miscreants, we have other names identified by Senator Lacson five years ago. And some of them are incumbents or are coming back in as possible winners — in both houses of Congress — with pending cases attached to the PDAF scandal.
I rue the day when we populate the two houses with future felons. In conclusion, I will cite an edited version of my May 18, 2014, blog in the wake of the Napoles scam breaking out.
“And we could be the laughingstock of the world. Just imagine for a moment that the ‘Napolist’ were true: We could have a Senate that could hold a quorum in jail — or for that matter, a whole ward at the Veterans Memorial Hospital. When they call for a Senate hearing ‘in aid of legislation’ will they still be addressed as ‘Honorable’? Can the members of the lower house create committees? Can the upper ward (the Senate) pass on bills to the lower ward (the House)?”
Only in the Philippines!
THE days of DU30 cursing God, I think, are over. He has been chastised. But the aftershock of his barrage will impact this election cycle. The formidable Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has lingering memories of his blasphemy. You can’t mess with their God! In the past, they have never been reluctant to instruct their priests to use the pulpit to defend the Church and advance its agenda, political or otherwise. This time the President is vulnerable as he must push his Senate slate to sustain his program going forward for the remainder of his term.
Unlike Gloria, who cultivated the Catholic hierarchy during her incumbency, suborning the bishops with new Pajeros and SUVs, the Deegong never went this route. He was confrontational to the point of alienating the hierarchy. True, there is no proven solid Catholic vote despite 80 percent of the populace labeling themselves as nominal Catholics. Past elections, however, show the Catholics fragmented. Other churches fared differently.
The century-old Iglesia ni Kristo that boasts a proven minimum of at least 2 million command votes (claiming up to 4 million), has always been perceived to have supported the winners in several presidential elections. Its track record in putting important candidates over the top has allowed it to insert INK members into every administration even up to cabinet level, placing the sect in positions of influence.
The INK was all out for DU30 in 2016, thus its members were awarded sinecures in the civilian and military bureaucracy. Even the Executive Minister, Eduardo Manalo, carries a DU30 appointment as special envoy for overseas Filipino concerns — whatever this means. Not too bad for a religious sect.
And this week marks the start of key local and national candidates making a beeline for the INK to “kiss the ring” of Eduardo Manalo. No candidate worth his salt will pass over the chance of being seen within the circle of this vicar. Whether the candidate is leading in the polls or at the tail end, everyone pays homage.
The INK has its own polling system, relying heavily on its extensive but secretive cultish membership. Particularly in the senatorial level, incumbents and neophytes must kowtow to Manalo. And the INK blesses those who are apparent winners; branded names showing good numbers and are ahead of the pack, thus the appearance of INK producing the eventual winners. It has perfected the art of anointing those with the highest probability of winning, perforce claiming ownership of victory. Those in the tail end will of course be discarded. There is no appeal. And the smart thing that INK has always done is to announce dramatically at the very last moment its choices to its flock that has proven time and again to vote on command.
Among the charismatic movements attached to the Catholic Church is the “El Shaddai,” in the forefront boasting a command vote of almost 2 million (or so it claims). This one is headed by a multi-millionaire real estate magnate, Brother Mike Velarde who started a small-time prayer radio program in the early 1980s. It currently claims a membership of 8 to 10 million worldwide and has tremendous political influence. It reportedly had a hand in putting Fidel V. Ramos into the presidency. This election will again see the spectacle of candidates praying on stage with Brother Mike with full tri-media coverage.
To a lesser degree is a Protestant denomination Jesus is Lord Church headed by Brother Eddie Villanueva. A rival of brother Mike, it claims a membership of 5 million with an undetermined command vote, but could be impressive as Villanueva’s son, Joel, was elected to the Senate in his first try in 2016, ranking second highest in the polls.
These religious groups are self-sufficient through the tithes and contribution of their members. The founders are all rich proving true the taunt that “religion is a lucrative business.” They are all Jesus-oriented and claim that certain truths have been revealed to their founders. INK, founded in 1913 by Felix Manalo, is now into its third generation of leadership — the Executive Ministers. Its main tenet is that INK is the one true church founded by Jesus but perverted by Christian churches over the centuries. All these churches claim to intercede for the faithful with their God, and therefore, they are the earthly instruments that merely mediate with the heavenly occupants. Except for one.
And this is the “Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name.” The difference between this sect is that the founder Apollo Quiboloy is “The Appointed Son of God.” In a video that went viral in social media, he proclaimed that he is the new Jesus chosen by God, claiming that he is the way, the truth and the life.
He claims ownership of everyone’s soul and the whole world “…ako ang may-ari ng kaluluwa niyo, ako and may-ari ng sanlibutan.” (I own your souls and I own the world). And the clencher, “…no one enter the gates of heaven without his forgiveness and redemption.”
This charismatic preacher came into national prominence when he was revealed to be the spiritual adviser of the then Mayor of Davao and his financial backer for his many mayoral campaigns. And he burst into public consciousness when he stood on the same stage as the presidential candidate during DU30 “miting de avance” when he parlayed his opening prayer into a rambling speech puffing up his role. He regaled the audience with stories of granting free use of his helicopter and plane for the Deegong’s sorties. What was galling was his attempt to overshadow the candidate by revealing that “he had this dream, that the mayor will one day be President” — boasting that he was the first to persuade him to run. And to top it all, he was willing to put in P1 billion or even P2 billion for the presidential campaign. Television audiences all over the country couldn’t help but notice the Deegong squirming in his chair — totally embarrassed by this religious charlatan-billionaire. And his claims of vast wealth could be true as the international Archlight Media estimated his worth at about $160 million (P8.64 billion).
By now, this “appointed son of God” may have been demoted from his lofty perch as the President’s spiritual advisor. The Deegong needs no earthly intercession with heaven. He doesn’t even believe in heaven.
What is required of him is to fulfill what he promised the Filipinos when he ran as a maverick — a real pagbabago! And if he pulls it off, the Deegong will be revered by his countrymen much better than any religious charlatan.
MY readers at the Manila Times, especially those from the provinces, particularly Davao, have been egging me to write in support of a revolutionary government (RevGov). I did write a couple of items over several months, out of frustration at the snail’s pace of change which we expected DU30 to put on stream. But my position against RevGov is unequivocal. It is a more lethal medicine than the disease it seeks to cure.
These snake-oil salesmen have been hawking the concept of “RevGov the Democratic way,” citing the 1986 post-Edsa People Power Revolution as the main example. Aside from these two not being analogous, the contradictions comparing President Cory’s and the current DU30 regime are glaring. For one, President Cory’s was born out of people’s disgust with the Marcos dictatorship generating a revolutionary climate that drove Marcos out. This undercurrent volatility triggered seven coup d’etat attempts on Cory’s government in four years.
There is nothing “democratic” about a declaration and execution of RevGov. If perchance DU30 changes his mind and declares one, then he is simply declaring a coup d’état against his own duly constituted government and an acceptance that he couldn’t hack it through the democratic processes under which he was elected a minority president. I doubt he will succeed. But let us examine the circumstances and their implications.
A most powerful segment of the state, the oligarchy, will not countenance RevGov as this is an encroachment into their business and political prerogatives. They want their own “level playing field,” one they had painstakingly structured for generations, safe for them. And DU30 is a gadfly disrupting the cozy relationship between the political movers and shakers, the captured bureaucracy and the old-time oligarchy. The president has been relentless in gnawing at the edges of the oligarchy and their minions as demonstrated by his confrontations with the Prieto and Rufino families and Marcos’ old cohort, Ongpin.
The officials elected in the 2016 election, many of whom owe their positions to their financial clout, may not look kindly at a RevGov unless DU30 declares a “no election” for the 2019 midterm. This declaration goes beyond the pale of the law, but it may get the support of the LGUs and those whose terms have been extended; but the repercussions are deadly.
On whose side will the military and the police support go? It is doubtful that the armed forces will want to reprise their role as stooges of Marcos. They may have learned their lesson well during the dark years of Martial Law and the post-Marcos military institution may really support the people, the Constitution and not the person of the presidency.
More importantly, DU30 will lose the support of the majority of Filipinos, especially those whose memories go back to the days of the dictator Marcos. And the Marcoses today are so obviously appended to the Deegong brand, that they may prove to be a heavy drag on his persona.
The Deegong may well be advised to look up to his idol Ferdinand Marcos who took decades to plan and execute yet failed in the end as a dictator that set the Filipinos back decades in economic and political advancement.
How did Marcos do it? How did he prepare for capture of absolute power which RevGov is a small version of?
Marcos took years and had the sophistication to lay the groundwork for his regime. Since Marcos became president in 1965, he may have already planned out his term going beyond eight years, either through the surrogacy of wife Imelda or through constitutional fiat. He chose the latter, with his 1973 constitutional revisions of the 1935 Constitution as his gambit.
It took years also to build up a primary pillar of his regime, the men in uniform. It is a well-known fact that the Marcos couple began to develop military personnel as young fresh PMA graduates, nurturing their careers in the AFP, Constabulary and police forces to ranks of colonels, captains, admirals and generals. Those known as the “Rolex 12” whom he entrusted the powers to execute martial law were such men. The pillars of the martial law regime also included two loyalist civilians, Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and oligarch Danding Cojuangco. Jr., chairman of the San Miguel Corp.
Marcos built up a select technocratic class to run his bureaucracy, putting in place structures that allowed him to extract the nation’s wealth through rent-seeking activities. These technocrats eventually headed industries the Marcoses controlled, replacing the old oligarchy with his newly minted ones, some of whom have expanded their wealth, influence and political clout up to this day.
He engineered an elaborate labyrinth of relationships based on loyalty paid for by greed; elevated kleptocracy into an art form; divided the industry headed by cronies protecting their prerogatives by executive orders (EO) and presidential decrees (PD). And this perversion to perpetuate the dictatorship was successful for decades, until the ordinary Filipino emboldened by a small band of soldiers said, “enough is enough.” Thus, the EDSA People Power Revolution.
Today, the Deegong, who is being prodded by his inane and unthinking supporters to declare RevGov, must heed the lessons of history — of Ferdinand and Cory. DU30 did not have the precedents that the once-successful Marcoses did — years of preparations and the willingness to apply his political and iron will. But more importantly, Marcos possessed an evil genius that permeated his band of select technocrats; the best and brightest painstakingly culling out the disloyal from among the business, academe, civic leaders and the men in uniform. These were the Marcos acolytes forming the backbone of his revolutionary government, his dictatorship.
True, people are frustrated at the slow pace of pagbabago and desperate over the continued dominance of the oligarchy, the thieves in Congress and the bureaucracy condemning more than half of Filipinos to stark poverty.
True, some of his loyal former military generals are in place in cabinet and government sinecures. I doubt however that their capability and his relationship with them can equal or parallel that of the Marcos-military cabal.
The Deegong is indeed not a Marcos. And thank God for this! He simply doesn’t have what it takes to mount a successful RevGov. But he is a leader we never had.
He is advancing in age and frail, and he knows his years are numbered. He has his legacy clear before him. He carries the hopes of the despairing multitudes who are convinced this is the last chance at real change. He may not be loved by many people, like those of us in the middle, upper middle and even higher classes. But we are patriots. And so is he. We are compelled to support the Deegong on faith — to do the right thing “the democratic way.”
A FEW months ago, this column repositioned the two important legacies of PRRD: federalism and the third telco. Today, we add the preparations for the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), or Republic Act 11054 signed by PRRD last July 26, 2018. With the Comelec scheduling the plebiscite for January 21, 2019, this will be the first test for the Duterte administration going into the midterm of 2019.
The new political entity to be called Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, would replace the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) established following a 1996 peace agreement with another rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) headed by Nur Misuari. The charter for the BARMM must first be ratified by the people in the proposed expanded Muslim autonomous region, composed of the core of ARMM (Maguindanao, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan), plus six towns in Lanao del Norte that voted yes in 2001; 39 barangay in North Cotabato that voted for inclusion in the ARMM in 2001; Cotabato City, the present seat of the ARMM; and Isabela City in Basilan, two cities that voted against inclusion in 2001. The law also allows the inclusion of “other contiguous areas” where a resolution of the local government unit or a petition of at least ten percent of the registered voters seeking for inclusion is submitted at least two months prior to the conduct of the ratification.
The plebiscite campaign starts on December 7, 2018 and will last until January 19, 2019, or 45 days, but there is still no budget for the conduct of the plebiscite. The P857 million tab for the plebiscite was not included in the Comelec budget submitted by Malacañang since the law was signed only in July. Three options have been identified on where to source the funds: 1) allow ARMM to use its proposed P10.1 billion infrastructure fund for FY2019; 2) use the Comelec savings from the barangay elections held last May 2018; and 3) secure funding from the Office of the President. A red flag in the preparation for the important yes vote.
Federalism on the other hand, has gone the way of “pepedede;” nobody wanted to touch the advocacy after. Even the cabinet’s economic cluster shot down the Puno-led draft, stressing on the cost and not looking into the benefits of having structural change. There is no lead person in the cabinet on federalism, communication is ad hoc and the Puno draft has been rejected across sectors.
With the economy in a precarious state due to the inflation monster, people are just focused on stomach issues and restructuring at this time has further been sidelined.
This leads us to one of the other legacies of PRRD, the third telco, now known as the new major player or NMP. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has issued Memorandum Circular No. 09-09-2018 on the rules and regulations on the selection process. It used to be that with a congressional franchise, a telco players goes to NTC to secure CPCN and then they roll out their plans without the NTC vetting such plans and use of frequencies.
Under the circular, the congressional franchise is just paper. Two submission packages have been identified: the first submission package refers to all the regulatory documents of the participants, the key point being that it should have a paid-up capital of at least P10 billion in the participants AAFS for the past three years. The second submission package (to be submitted simultaneously) is the filled-up electronic template of Form A (scorecard).
What appears to be the most controversial and totally new is the insertion of a participation security in the amount of P700 million which shall be valid for 180 calendar days from the submission and opening of the selection documents (6.2.j), the non-submission of which will automatically disqualify any participant from the bidding. The duopoly never had this kind of hurdle. With just a congressional franchise, SMART and Globe went to town without any barriers to entry.
Imagine if there are three bidders, the amount that NTC will be holding will be P2.1 billion for 180 days? Would the amount be deposited in a bank? The Treasury? How can NTC with a budget of P489 million for FY 2018 be a custodian of such a huge amount? Who is the bonded official in the NTC who would be responsible for such an amount? Further, the participation security can be forfeited in favor of government on four grounds: “false information or falsified documents; refusal of the participant to accept its confirmation as a provisional or selected NMP; unjustified withdrawal during the 180-day binding period and when the participants attempt to unduly influence the outcome.” Who earns from the spread? And “unduly influence” is a gag rule to all participants, as if NTC has not been coopted by its process. What does to “unduly influence” mean? So, if PRRD decides to get his way, is NTC saying there is undue influence by a participant?
Let us look into the way SMART and Globe Telecom have controlled the NTC for years with enhanced regulatory capture starting in the early 1990s. And the story of the 18 public telecommunications entities with outstanding SRF tells you a lot about how NTC performs its mandate. The NTC has shown to the public its inability to manage the telcos — from interconnection, to VAS, to dropped calls, to cost of text and per minute calls to VAS to dated promos and very recently, NTC cannot compel the duopoly to deliver the minimum speed of 12 mbps in Internet connectivity that their advertisements guarantee to their subscribers, among others. The same commissioner has been in the seat since Macapagal-Arroyo in 2009, through the Aquino administration, and then got a reappointment in 2016 under Duterte, or a total of nine years and counting.
The legacy of Duterte on the third telco will be on the shoulders of NTC, an agency proven to have been co-opted by the duopoly, hence the delay and the circular itself are barriers to entry. Worse, the roll-out plan comes 90 days after the issuance of a confirmation order (Section 10). And another Humpty Dumpty falls.
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https://en.calameo.com/read/00544428302022d0022c3?authid=CsQqVWnIuyB8