“What the man tells everyone is that he is a protégé of a young congressman who is very close to Malacañang.” by Ducky Paredes There is a two-person syndicate within the Bureau of Corrections that lives off the meager prisons meal allowance of P40 per prisoner. The two-person syndicate takes P21 for itself from the P40 allocated. Consider that there are 36,000 prisoners under the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinglupa, Davao, Zamboanga and Palawan. This amounts to a daily take for the dastardly duo of P756,000 or P275.9 million a year! The food budget for every prisoner is only P40 a day, hardly enough even just for rice plus some vegetables and a little fish of meat. Imagine that this two person syndicate can still take from this amount. What is left is just P19.00 for three meals. This goes to a caterer who delivers P12 worth of food for each prisoner keeping the rest for expenses and a small profit. Imagine what P4.00 for each meal can deliver to grown men. Lucky are the prisoners who have relatives who visit them; but, how about those who have no visitors? How can they survive on prison food worth at only P4.00 per meal? The joke among prisoners is that their meal is usually “baka at baboy” as in “baka hindi makain parang kanin baboy.” The key man to the operation is a former PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) officer who was kicked out of PDEA because of unaccounted missing equipment and unauthorized purchases. He has — since joining the Bureau of Corrections – settled all of his obligations with PDEA and even has a brand-new vehicle to his name. Why is an active policeman in the Bureau of Corrections? What the man tells everyone is that he is a protégé of a young congressman who is very close to Malacañang. Thus, no one wants to touch him or even to question whatever he does. In league with this former PDEA officer is the owner of the caterer who has cornered the food contract for all of the prisons under the Bureau of Corrections. After he was drummed out of PDEA for questionable disbursements of PDEA funds, particularly the construction of the PDEA Academy at Clark which is said to have been built with substandard materials, he was detailed to the office of the congressman with excellent Malacañang connections who endorsed him to any position at the Bureau of Corrections with the idea that he could do more for his career in the BuCor than doing security work for a congressman. Once at BuCor, the former PDEA man bandied the powerful congressman’s name to improve his standing. He also developed a very close relation with the Chinese caterer who has become a business partner. Does the young congressman with close connections to Malacañang know what his recommendee is doing? According to inside information coming from the BuCor, the former PDEA man tells everyone that the congressman close to Malacañang knows and approves of everything that he does. The congressman has actually been doing a good job. One doubts that he would be a party to taking money from the food budget of prisoners. * * * Should Globe Telecom be allowed to install a 164 kilometer underwater cable between Donsol, Sorsogon and Calbayog, Northern Samar? Globe claims that this will help them improve communications nationwide. What residents of Donsol fear is that the cable will disturb the habitat of the Whale Shark for which Donsol is famous. Maria Ong-Ravanilla, Bicol’s Tourism regional director wants clearance from the residents of Donsol as well as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) before the Department of Tourism endorses the request to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). According to Ong-Ravanilla, Globe has already delivered a lot of construction supplies at Donsol consisting of PVC pipes and other materials even before the DENR has issued a Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC). It is well that someone worries about the habitat of the whale shark, even if it may mean rerouting the plans of Globe Telecom. Saving their habitat is more important than the cost of additional submarine cable to the telecommunications company. Just this year, there were sightings of 114 individual whale sharks known as “butanding” in the area, from the shores of Donsol. They are differentiated by their spots which are unique to each individual whale shark. They are like human fingerprints; no two are the same. Whale shark watching is a major tourist attraction for Donsol. * * * At last, there may be justice for Marlene Garcia-Esperat who was killed in cold blood by killers hired by regional officers of the Department of Agriculture. Esperat broke the story on the fertilizer scam of Joc-Joc Bolante. She was shot in her house in front of her children. One of the killers confessed in open court that he was told to hire four men by the DA Region 12 finance officer and his accountant, While the killers have been sentenced to serve time in prison, the masterminds have not yet been charged. New evidence has been found that would prove the mastermind’s participation which is why the Department of Justice has filed a case against them in Tacurong, North Cotabato. Even if being a journalist in the big city may be more glamorous than being one in a small town, t is the rural journalist that is in greater danger especially when they, like Marlene Esperat, dedicate themselves to ferreting out the truth no matter how dangerous this may become for them. * * * The Fifth Leg of the San Mig Sugar-Free Coffee Senior Tournament for the Federation of Philippine Amateur Senior Golfers, Inc. (FPASGI) will be tee-off at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at seven in the morning. This is the first time that the tournament will be held at Canlubang. The FPASGI chapter in Canlubang is expected to roll out the red carpet for all participants, A lot of raffle prizes and great food is expected by FPASGI members. The San Mig Senior Tournament is exclusive for FPASGI members. # # # # hvp 10.23.08)
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