Ducky Paredes

 “(T)he 1987 Constitution is made to allow an extended President’s term of 10 years maximum even as it discarded the maximum 8 years term in the previous 1973 Constitution.”

by Ducky Paredes

We have a letter from Roman Rama Guerrero:  “Forty-three (43) days before the proverbial ‘Sword of Damocles’ starts hanging over PNoy’s head 24/7 simultaneous with the opening of the door for a possible 10-year Binay presidency.

“This shall happen when the clock strikes 12:01pm; June 30, 2012 on the basis of Sec. 4(3); Art. VII; 1987 Constitution – the same provision which allowed the extended close to 9 ½ years GMA Presidency from 1/20/01 to 6/30/10 – that presently reads:

 “’No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at anytime.’”

“The above provision is erroneous as it permits the absolute no-reelection restriction of the higher office to yield and bow down to the re-election qualification of the lower office (VP) by the onset of the sitting president’s 25th month in office, which in the case of PNoy is to happen at the precise time stated above!

“A minor corrective amendment of the above-cited provision is imperative if we are to:

“1. Protect PNoy’s person and the 4-year remainder of his term from undue risk and danger as well as from being ‘constitutionally’ shortened;

“2. Prevent the repeat of having a Supreme Court populated with majority magistrates appointed only by a single President due to that president’s extended term as preceded by GMA;

“3. Even the playing field in the 2016 elections as the then successor-President shall be barred from running for another 6-year term as President while sitting in office also as preceded by GMA in 2004 versus FPJ;

“4. Stop the 66.6% disenfranchisement or shortchange of every voter’s direct vote for the President because 4 out of the 6 years term of office is ‘constitutionally’ waylaid and purloined;

“5. Set free the Presidency from possible scarcity of good presidential aspirants after knowing fully well that only 2 out of the 6-year President’s term is safe and secure upon realization that said shortened 2-year term is grossly disproportionate with the rigors and demands of undertaking a national election campaign for the Presidency;

“6. Establish the incontrovertible fact that the same provision is ab initio null and void (null and void from the beginning) as it violates the Power of History Rule – in doing Constitutional exegesis -  when the 1987 Constitution is made to allow an extended President’s term of 10 years maximum even as it discarded the maximum 8 years term in the previous 1973 Constitution.

“What the 1987 Constitution ‘vomited’ appears to have been ‘eaten back’ with all its toxic dirt the potency of which is strong enough to send our ‘Democracy now on a stretcher’ – per CJ Puno – straight into the morgue.

“Other than that, we emphasize that a collateral outcome of the minor corrective amendment No. 6  shall make possible for the recall and invalidation of the 6-year GMA Presidency – from June 30, 2004 to June 30, 2010. Along with the said term recall and invalidation shall be the basis for the subsequent recall and invalidation of all the GMA Executive Agreements (EAs), MOUs and other forms or instruments of conveyances concluded by GMA – notably with China – as well as with other countries, corporations, company or individual, foreign or domestic found disadvantageous and inimical to the interests and welfare of the Filipino people. One example of this, though now moot and academic, was the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) she concluded with China – opposed by Vietnam which was the reason why it became a tripartite agreement – that now appears to prefigure the on-going tension-filled stand off between the Philippines and China.

“All the above enumerated beneficial effects to our 26year old EDSA People Power-restored Democracy shall happen if once more a ‘new form and new expression’ of EDSA People Power Nationwide shall be undertaken through RA 6735 - the People’s Initiative and Referendum Act of 1988 - the implementing law to do minor amendments to the 1987 Constitution per its Sec. 2; Art. XVII as ruled by the Panganiban Court in October, 2006.

“The corrected version of the provision should then read:

 “’No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for any length of time shall immediately be qualified for election to the same office.’

“With those six valid reasons on why we need to undertake the minor correction for Sec. 4(3), Art. VII of the Constitution, we end with this note: ‘We have everything to gain and nothing to lose if we do it, but we have everything to lose and nothing to gain if we don’t do it’.”

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            I must agree with the letter-writer not because of any suspicion that our present VP will develop designs on PNoy’s presidency (Jojo Binay’s good relations with Cory and her children would probably preclude that possibility) but only to set things right. I suppose that the framers of the present constitution may have had Doy Laurel in mind in the event that their enemies had plans of getting rid of Cory Aquino.

            Beyond that possibility, the provision does encourages plots by the VP and/or his backers and/or the sitting President’s enemies to destabilize the President’s government  specially after his 25th month in office.

            Remember, too, that we have more often had presidents and vice president from separate political parties.

            Clearly, to keep that provision in our Constitution only plays into the hands of plotters who cannot be thinking of what is best for this country and the rest of us.

            Besides, what is the logic of giving someone we elected vice president  a shot at a longer term than  what we allowed for the president? If a re-election is forbidden for one we elected as president, why would someone originally elected as vice-president be allowed re-election after he has only succeeded to the presidency?

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hvp 05.17.12

 “’We cannot give you accommodations. If only I could, I would’, she continued. ‘It is not our company’s policy to provide accommodations in situations like this.’”

by Ducky Paredes

We have a letter from an irate reader who will remain anonymous. I have edited the letter for length. At any rate, it tells a story that has a bearing on tourism and it’s being “more fun in the Philippines”:

“On April 27, I had a confirmed ticket on Cebu Pacific from Dumaguete City to Manila. Check-in time was at 2:45 pm, and since being in front of the line in the compact departure area meant that there was still a chance to get choice seats, I was there at 2:30. They started the check-in process at 2:45 and everything went on smoothly.

“A Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight was also scheduled that afternoon and we lazily watched as it boarded their passengers at 4:30pm. Our own boarding schedule was at 4:15 and characteristically, no one was in the slight bit concerned because these flights are usually late. The PAL plane stayed at the runway another 10 minutes before it finally took off for Manila.

“It was then that Cebu Pacific announced thru the public address system that our flight was cancelled.

“I have travelled extensively worldwide and have experienced situations when flights were cancelled. Invariably those flights were cancelled because of bad weather and it was quite decent of the respective airlines to issue us vouchers for transportation from and back to the airport, hotel accommodations, and food.

“It was in that mood that I went to see the Cebu Pacific front desk. The place was congested. It was full of people with a common expression in their faces. Everybody was frustrated, and mad. We were all frustrated because the flight was cancelled. There were people who had connecting flights that they will not make because ours was the last flight out of Dumaguete that day. There were people from the far-flung areas of Negros Oriental and there were no more transportation available to take them to the safety of their own homes. These people never experienced how to survive in hotels. Some people had job interviews, family commitments, and business meetings to attend to early the next day. These things beget frustration. It is an understandable human reaction.

When the officer-in-charge (incidentally, the manager was on leave) spoke to me, her face was full of determination. When I asked her what the reason was for cancelling the flight, she said it was force majeure. I said “alright, so what is the plan? Where will we all be accommodated tonight?” In a way, I was egging her to move on, and that things like these happen and all we can do is make the experience as painless as possible for everybody.

Her answer was very stoic. I was dumbfounded. It was definitely asinine. I suddenly realized why the people who were there before me were both frustrated and mad. Very mad. “I am very sorry”, she started, now avoiding my eyes. “We cannot give you accommodations. If only I could, I would”, she continued. “It is not our company’s policy to provide accommodations in situations like this.”

“So what happens now?” I asked. She coldly said “I don’t know. Until your special flight tomorrow at 10:45am, you are on your own. And you cannot stay here either. You have to leave the building”.

“To make my point clear and unmistakable, I recited “WE DEMAND ACCOMMODATIONS TONIGHT” aloud. As I turned around, people started to chant the same phrase repeatedly.

“As if on cue, the OIC disappeared from the front desk and was replaced by uniformed security guards. Other people started asking questions in louder voices, standing firm yet with no forward movement nor any sign of pushing.

“It was then that a young gentleman asked for a ticket refund because he would risk a land trip to Cebu, late as it is, and try to catch a plane there for Manila. He said he simply could not miss a job interview early on April 28. One of the ladies at the counter attempted to help him. After the helpful lady made computations, she handed them to the young gentlemen. It was as if a force majeure materialized on the young man’s face. It turns out that he would be refunded only a fraction of what he originally paid for the ticket.

“When he asked why that was, the lady told him that it was company policy. “So you already delayed me here unnecessarily, and as a result, I will lose my shot at the job I have been applying for, and now you will even steal my money”.  He was creating such a commotion that one of the guards called the OIC from the comforts of the office facade. Once again I spied those devilish eyes as she addressed the young man who started weeping at his misfortune. “Sir, I cannot do anything. It is company policy.”

“The commotion shifted to the left side as a German national with a Filipina wife asked another unanswerable question: ”I paid 240 thousand pesos for our ticket that leaves for Europe at 11pm tonight. Who is going to reimburse me?”

“Then there was a group of young and elderly ladies who work in Manila as housekeepers. One of them called her employer who appeared to really be very mad at her. She tried to explain and asked one of the ladies behind the counter to talk to her employer. Unfortunately, the security guard brushed her away and the lady behind the counter gave her the evil eye.

“Case after heartbreaking case and sad stories of passengers were laid before the front desk, with nary a sympathetic ear to listen. There was a group of four matured tourists from Chicago who simply watched from a distance and patiently held their temper. I had a strange feeling that I will never see them again. At least not in the Philippines. There was another group of foreigners who had to catch a connecting flight to Puerto Princesa. Another Austrian couple simply watched. (This couple would eventually have to pay another Four Thousand Dollars to replace their ticket home).

“One reply fit all questions and admonitions that night: Company Policy.

“The crowd was getting impatient. There were three different groups who were shouting at the employees. One group was saying that the true reason our flight was cancelled was because there were not enough passengers for Dumaguete on that flight and Cebu Pacific did not want to lose money.

“The complete lack of concern of Cebu Pacific of the welfare of its riding public is very disturbing. Their business conduct is inhumane. It is no secret that cancellations and tardiness are the hallmarks of the airline industry. Who regulates the business practices of the likes of Cebu Pacific? Do they even get reprimanded or sanctioned when they leave late of schedule? Are they even aware of the implications of flight tardiness/cancellations to their passengers, especially in far-flung airports? Does anybody even care? The ability to mitigate the adverse effects of their decisions to the passengers was an opportunity to serve that they simply missed.

“The whole episode is marked by lies upon lies by Cebu Pacific to their passenger/patrons. Their commitment to common welfare and a humane business responsibility is seriously lacking. This episode demonstrates unequivocally that Cebu Pacific regards its passengers only as a means for profit and nothing else. Their decision to cancel the flight and the time they made the decision is evidence to their greed.

“Cebu Pacific is a ruthless business that goes after your money and nothing else. It is their company policy not to worry about stranded passengers even if they decide to cancel your flight for whatever reason. Their employees’ kind demeanor cannot compensate for a world of inconvenience that company policies can wreak upon you.

“The ownership of Cebu Pacific conducts bad business. They are uncaring, callous, and insensitive to their passenger’s needs. They will throw you out of their office if you get caught with a flight delay/cancellation whether you are a child, an adult, or a senior citizen with special needs. They will charge you for whatever they can for whatever reason but will not be responsible for their flight delays and cancellations. They are a direct result of the Philippine government’s incompetence and inability to enforce whatever laws there are that protects the riding public. They do what they do with apparent impunity because they are allowed to, and because they can.”

Perhaps, our Civil Aviation regulators must also regulate our airlines’ company policies.

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hvp 05.14.12

 “By offering to testify, according to Pimentel, Corona would also be considered as having waived his right to the confidentiality of his dollar accounts with Philippine Savings Bank.”

by Ducky Paredes

Obviously, when impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona faces the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, the CJ thinks that he can get away with testifying only on the $10 million in bank deposits that have been the subject of media reports and a letter from the Ombudsman asking for his explanation,

According to the Benjamin of the Senate, who is also a bar topnotcher, if the CJ is thinking that, then he is grievously mistaken.

As far as Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, once Corona takes the witness stand in the Senate as promised by his lawyers, he becomes fair game for any and all questions from the senator-judges. Of course, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has promised that the CJ will be treated with respect but what could be disrespectful with wanting to know the truth. Certainly, the CJ himself knows well that in presenting himself himself as a witness, there is every possibility that he will be asked embarrassing questions.

This is, in fact, probably why he asked (as a condition to his testimony) that his accusers before the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman she must testify before the CJ will himself testify.

A lawyer posits that the Ombudsman and his accusers will probably have nothing that would stand up in court. Having proved that fact, would the CJ then excuse himself by saying that he, after all, has nothing to refute. If that is the play, clearly, lawyers among the Senators (Pimentel, for one) will not be denied their chance to cross-examine a CJ.

Besides, Corona does have a lot of explaining to do, starting with the millions of pesos worth of plush housing and condominium units, as well as the millions more in peso deposits, which he did not declare in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

That Corona fudged his SALNs through the years is already a fact admitted by his lawyers, who have been reduced to citing flimsy excuses to justify the undervaluation or non-declaration of his cash or real property assets.

The senator-judges and the public are just waiting how Corona will deftly try a tinkling dance avoiding the clashing bamboo poles. Can he explain why, for instance, he only declared his P9-million condo unit in Bonifacio Ridge in 2010 when he bought it in 2006.

By offering to testify, according to Pimentel, Corona would also be considered as having waived his right to the confidentiality of his dollar accounts with Philippine Savings Bank.

The PSBank accounts are covered by a TRO from the Supreme Court that bars their opening because doing so would violate the secrecy of foreign currency deposits.

 Koko says that while he was with the 13 senator-judges who voted last Feb. 13 for the Senate to respect the SC TRO, the time has come for the Senate to insist on the opening of Corona’s foreign currency accounts even without the SC lifting their TRO.

The secrecy of foreign currency deposits was never intended to hide the fruits of graft and corruption, money laundering and other shenanigans, thus it cannot be used as a monkey wrench that would disrupt the impeachment trial of Corona.

There is a higher call that must be served in impeachments and that is for the truth to surface to satisfy the people’s hunger for public accountability.  It is on truth that an impeachment must be decided.

With the false bravado exuded by his defense lawyers in trumpeting the much-awaited Corona testimony of Corona, a number of senators put things in their proper context when they said that it matters little how much the foreign currency accounts of Corona contain, the only point that matters is whether he disclosed those accounts in his SALN.

Corona’s SALNs are now of public record. Even if you peruse them with a magnifying glass, nowhere can you find entries of his dollar accounts. There’s no escaping that fact; that this is something that Corona cannot explain.

Add to this the deep and dark revelations that came up when the Coronas explained how they came to be the sole owners of the Basa-Guidote family corporation (BGEI). If they can double-cross their own relatives and use the lower courts to do their black deeds, what can such a CJ do to the rest of us?

He is wrong in that he equates everything to the SC’s ruling against the President’s family on Hacienda Luisita. That hardly matters. What does matter is a CJ who is on a path that leads away from the Daang Matuwid.

How can such a CJ do justice to his exalted post?

* * *

We have a letter: “Interesting development at impeachment trial after the defense (& maybe CJ) sensed that they have reached a dead end when the details of that BGEI takeover showed the greed, the shrewdness, the deceptive strategy of winning a case and manipulating the implementation of the court to capture a company worth at least P34.7 million (the money is already at the hands of Cristina that time) at a price of P28,000.00.

“The public formally were shown for the first time the character of this couple, betraying the trust of their relatives. If they can do that to them, they can do it to anyone. Now they are into getting sympathy and again using the name of God for their cause.

“This reminds me of the acts of Migs Zubiri when cornered, opting to resign to recover whatever is left to his credibility, if there is any.

“The news says there was tears from the family according to Atty. Esguerra who earlier said the ‘CJ is dying’ because of this recent development. Knowing the softhearted Filipinos might extend such sympathy, their last gambit might just get some dividends. But surely this was done not because of a sudden change of heart by the CJ, not because of the CJ ’seeing the light at the end of the tunnel’ but because the road has already ended and there is nowhere to go. May God truly be merciful on him and bless him to make amends. That would be good for him.” — El Flores, Las Pinas

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hvp 05.13.12

 “Corona epitomizes the crooked path that is the exact opposite of the daang matuwid that the Aquino administration wants to pursue.”

by Ducky Paredes

Day 36 of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona last May 8 was, in my mind, a total fiasco for the CJ. His lawyers, obviously acting under his direct guidance, sought to prove that the Roco-Coronas owned Basa-Guidote Enterprises, Inc. (BGEI), and had every right to sell its property to the City of Manila and take the money for themselves.

However, by putting the sheriff of the Quezon City RTC on the witness stand, Corona may well have proved his ownership, he also revealed how manipulative he is and how he deals with a stacked deck. That hearing actually worked against him. I doubt if that hearing, in any way, improved his credibility. In fact, that episode only managed to further muddle the issue and leave both the impeachment court, as well as the public, with great big doubts on the true extent of his assets and his evil ways.

Corona insists that his purchases of luxury condominiums and his bank accounts came from his salaries and allowances as a member of the Supreme Court, and from other sources, including the P11 million loan from BGEI, which he declared in one of his SALNs. He also claims that the more than P30 million he withdrew from the Katipunan branch of PSBank on December 12, 2012, when he was impeached by 188 congressmen, was money held in trust for BGEI, or the proceeds of the sale for P34.7 million to the City of Manila of a BGEI property in Bustillos, Manila in 2001. The fact revealed on Day 36 is that he borrowed the P11 million from his daughter, not BGEI since there was no BGEI board resolution approving the loan.

The impeachment court allowed the last hearing to focus on BGEI because of that Corona’s claim that he borrowed from BGEI!

What came out of the hearing, however, only served to reinforce the view that Corona may simply be using BGEI as a convenient prop to hide wealth grossly disproportionate to his legitimate income.

During the hearing, it was revealed that Corona’s daughter, Carla Corona Castillo, now owns BGEI, having paid a mere P28,000 at an auction conducted by the QC RTC as part of the writ of execution on a libel case against Jose Ma. Basa III that the court had ruled in favor of Cristina Corona in October 2002, awarding her P500,000 in damages.

But the auction (incidentally, held several years later, and only when Corona was already a Justice in the Supreme Court) was tainted with irregularity as it was held after the death of Basa. Death extinguishes civil and criminal liabilities. Besides, Carla was the only bidder in that auction. How she became the majority owner of the firm with only P28,000 as payment for 91 percent of BGEI shares is an anomaly since a year earlier, Cristina received an overpriced P34.7 million from the city of Manila for the sale of the Bustillos property. The check was made out to Cristina Corona for and in behalf of BGEI!

Impeachment court presiding officer Juan Ponce Enrile was himself perplexed as to why the 4,839 BGEI shares of Jose Ma. Basa III and his wife, which had a par value of P100 each or P483,900, were sold for only P28,000. “Given the value of the [BGEI] property [in Manila], which was sold at P34.7 million, the fair market of the share is a lot, lot, lot more than the par value,” Enrile noted. Enrile even asked the witness, sheriff Joseph Bisnar (who one suspects was doing everything that he did on instructions of Corona despite the fact that the sheriff swore that he did not know who Corona was), why he did not even bother to urge Carla to increase her bid of P28,000 for the 4,839 BGEI shares.

Prosecution spokesperson Rep. Romero Quimbo called the sale of BGEI stocks to Castillo “extremely and highly irregular, illegal and void.”

He also said Bisnar should be liable for ignoring his functions as sheriff when he allowed the sale of BGEI shares to Castillo at such a measly price.

What the last hearing showed is the apparent deviousness of Corona in using BGEI as his shield against allegations of hidden wealth.

 More than this, he has obviously been manipulating the judicial system, including the lower courts, and his own children to hide his assets.

If the Chief Justice can manipulate the judicial system and his own children to serve his personal purposes, what can we expect of him as our Chief Magistrate?

The Senate impeachment court is clearly aware that Corona is a scheming and manipulative individual who will stop at nothing to accumulate wealth. Nothing will stop him!

Corona has been caught lying as to the source of the money he used to purchase pricey condominium properties and again lying about his various peso and dollar accounts.

 Confronted with reports that he owned two properties in the U.S., Corona initially claimed he had only rented two properties for his daughters. But later he made an abrupt turn-around and admitted that a daughter had bought a house in California at a “dirt-cheap” price. He even explained that his daughter was married to a very rich man. This looked believable until it was discovered that the husband had signed a waiver on any rights to the property. (What else could this mean but that he was not a party to the purchase!) 

Corona has been caught lying again and again. There’s no way he can regain his shattered credibility. Well, there is a way but it would mean giving up his throne as CJ. He cannot keep his credibility and his position which should never be given to a man who does not know right from wrong and lies from the truth,

At the conclusion of the May 8 hearing, Corona’s defense team said the Chief Justice had agreed to testify this coming week. But why did he set a condition for his appearance, that those who have accused him of owning dollar accounts should be subpoenaed to substantiate their charges? Even if he is the Chief Justice, he should not be setting conditions for his appearance. An honest man would only need to speak the truth with honesty, and he will be believed.

By bringing in his accusers to be grilled by his lawyers, Corona is obviously out to discredit them. So, suppose they are also lying, what does that prove? It certainly does not prove that Corona is not lying himself or that he has no dollar accounts — whether $10 million worth or less, does it?

Corona epitomizes the crooked path that is the exact opposite of the daang matuwid that the Aquino administration wants to pursue. He has no business staying on as Chief Justice and dragging the whole judiciary down to his gutter with him.

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hvp 05.10.12