vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 3 months, 4 weeks ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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‘A bad striptease’

Posted by: Jaileen F. Jimeno | October 25, 2007 at 8:02 am
Filed under: Governance, In the News

NO money changed hands at the Palace last October 11. That’s what Malacañang functionaries and some governors belonging to the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) had been saying, at least up until Tuesday. In fact, people who were reading the Philippine Star that day may have noticed the LPP’s full-page advertisement in which the group’s members alternately labeled the reports of alleged cash-giving as “trumped-up,” “outrageous,” “fictitious,” and a “non-issue.”

But by night time of the same day, the same group had made a turnaround, and admitted they had indeed handed out cash — allegedly from their membership fees — to neophyte governors for their “capacity building programs.” The total amount they claim to have collected from their members: P21 million. Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, who was not among the 29 signatories (out of the 42 who attended the meeting), said only governors Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan and Fr. Eduardo Panlilio of Pampanga were given money at Malacañang that morning.

The statements appear to have been designed to cut out Palace functionaries — and by doing so, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — from the picture of cash changing hands, leaving only a scenario in which those involved were a selected few. But the LPP’s sudden 180-degree turn in a span of less than 24 hours has the hallmarks of a badly written script. Or, as political management expert Malou Tiquia says, “a bad striptease.”

“What happens before we reach the naked truth?” asks Tiquia, who is the founder and head of Publicus, a political consulting firm.

Well, probably plenty, predicts Jude Esguerra, executive director of the Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD), a nonprofit research and advocacy institute. He says the National Broadband Network deal and the cash-giving scandals are proving to be a lethal combination to the Arroyo administration. “It has destroyed relations between her and her allies and Malacañang officials,” he observes, adding that it has destabilized the government so much that the situation has been fluid for weeks now.

“There’s an eerie silence, political factions are regrouping, preparing for the next big thing,” says Esguerra. He thinks there is a possibility of resignations in the next few days. He even remarks, “I don’t see how she (Arroyo) can survive this.”

One miscue after another

It has obviously been no help that each challenge to the Arroyo administration seems to have been mishandled. Even those that appear to be its allies’ own making have led only to disaster. The alleged Palace payoffs are a case in point, and even what look like face-saving efforts only made matters worse.

“They have a very bad story line,” comments Tiquia. “They have a very bad ‘public face’ for this issue. Who is Evardone? What is his trust rating as against a Governor Panlilio?”

“That guy (Panlilio) is a hundred times more credible than a hundred governors,” agrees Esguerra. Like Tiquia, Esguerra believes Malacañang’s PR machinery has mishandled the controversy from Day One. “No one is coordinating things properly,” he says, “inconsistent ang stories that they churn out.”

First, there were the denials from the officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Governments (DILG) and the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) about any money changing hands. Undersecretary Tonypet Albano of the Office of Political Coalition Affairs also suggested that a good Samaritan may have been the source of the money. Interviewed on national TV, DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno said it could be House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. who was behind the bonus.

Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol tried to downplay the whole event, saying since there were no conditions imposed on the receiver of the money, there was no bribery, hence, there was no crime. Other Malacañang officials shielded themselves from the fallout by saying they were not in the Palace that day.

Then came the full-page ad that cost a little over P150,000. But those who placed it rendered it unworthy of the paper it was written on. And now we have LPP Secretary General and Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone, who was among those who first denied the “gift-giving,” admitting that cash amounting to P500,000 were indeed given to Governors Panlilio and Mendoza. He even says that other governors will be given money in the coming weeks, to be sourced from the league’s annual membership dues.

Gaping holes

But Reyes and Evardone appear to have failed to consider that questions would be raised about the absence of receipts. Interviewed over dzBB yesterday morning, Evardone also said he did not know if the LPP is a government or private agency, which would define if the “annual dues” are private or public funds. That could only mean he has not looked at the LPP’s own website, which clearly states that it is a creation of the Executive, via Executive Order 262, circa 1987. Aside from this, dues to organizations like the LPP are culled from taxpayers’ money, making it part of public funds.

The latest explanation put forward by Evardone and Reyes also does not take into account the presence of other new governors in the meeting. Panlilio told the PCIJ that he remembers seeing Governors Eustaquio Bersamin of Abra, Victor Yap of Tarlac, Aurelio Umali of Nueva Ecija, and Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas at the October 11 Malacañang meeting.

A check with LPP shows that there are 44 new governors (out of 81) elected last May 2007.

LIST OF NEOPHYTE GOVERNORS
REGION I
NAME	PROVINCE
Michael Marcos Keon	Ilocos Norte
Deogracias Victor B. Savellano	Ilocos Sur
Manuel C. Ortega	La Union
Amado T. Espino Jr.	Pangasinan
REGION II
Telesforo F. Castillejos	Batanes
Alvaro T. Antonio	Cagayan
Dakila Carlo E. Cua	Quirino
CAR
Eustaquio P. Bersamin	Abra
Nestor B. Fongwan	Benguet
Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr.	Ifugao
Floydelia R. Diasen	Kailnga
REGION III
Joselito R. Mendoza	Bulacan
Aurelio M. Umali	Nueva Ecija
Eduardo T. Panlilio	Pampanga
Victor A. Yap	Tarlac
Amor D. Deloso	Zambales
REGION IV-A
Rosa Vilma Santos-Recto	Batangas
Rafael P. Nantes	Quezon
Casimiro A. Ynares III	Rizal
REGION IV-B
Jose Antonio N. Carreon	Marinduque
Natalio F. Beltran Jr.	Romblon
REGION V
Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda	Albay
Joseph Chua Cua	Catanduanes
Elisa Olga T. Kho	Masbate
Sally A. Lee	Sorsogon
REGION VI
Victor A. Tanco	Capiz
Felipe Hilan A. Nava	Guimaras
REGION VII
Emilio C. Macias II	Negros Oriental
Orlando A. Fua Jr.	Siquijor
REGION VIII
Damian G. Mercado	Southern Leyte
REGION X
Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo	Camiguin
Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo	Lanao del Norte
REGION XI
Arturo T. Uy	Compostela Valley
Rodolfo P. del Rosario	Davao del Norte
Douglas Cagas	Davao del Sur
Corazon N. Malanyaon	Davao Oriental
REGION XII
Jesus N. Sacdalan	North Cotabato
Suharto T. Mangudadatu	Sultan Kudarat
CARAGA
Maria Valentina G. Plaza	Agusan del Sur
Robert Ace Barbers	Surigao del Norte
Geraldine E. Villaroman	Dinagat Islands
ARMM
Mamintal Alonto-Adiong Jr.	Lanao del Sur
Jum J. Akbar	Basilan
Abdusakur Tan	Sulu

Other governors also deny having received “alliance and capability building” funds when they were neophytes, debunking Reyes’s claim that this has been a usual form of assistance to newly-elected governors. Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, who is now on her second term, says she never received money from the LPP, even when she was a neophyte.

In demanding that Panlilio and Mendoza return the money “to put this issue to rest,” Reyes and Evardone have also apparently underestimated Panlilio’s determination to find out where the money came from. “Before we return the money,” retorts Panlilio, “dapat maliwanag at kapani-paniwala na galing nga sa kanila ang pera (it should be clearly established and believable, that the money came from them).” That puts the onus on Evardone, Reyes, and the rest of the LPP to prove their group owns the money.

“Why did it take them 12 days to admit that the money came from them?” Panlilio wonders as well.

Tiquia, who has handled a lot of political campaigns, does confirm that giving away money has been the norm in Malacañang, especially during campaign seasons. “Pero disimulado, hindi cash, at dinadala sa bahay (But it was done with finesse, not handed out in cash, and it is delivered at home),” she says.

“The dictum in a media crisis is sit down and admit there is a crisis and go from there,” she also says. But apparently, she says, whoever had a hand in the cash handouts has yet to acknowledge that there is a crisis, hence the peddling of various stories that do not quite end the scandal.

Tiquia points out that the latest twist offered by Evardone does not even answer a fundamental question: “If the money did not come from government, why was it distributed in Malacañang?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 and is filed under Governance, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.