Ducky Paredes

“‘The damage the Chinese vessel caused to the reef is heart-breaking. Some of the massive corals that were pulverized are estimated to be about 500 years old,’ Tubbataha Protected Area superintendent Angelique Songco says.“

 

by Ducky Paredes

Strange but true.  The F/V Min Long Yu, a much smaller Chinese fishing vessel that was stuck on the Tubbathaha Reef, a UNECO world heritage site, after the USS Guardian had run aground earlier, caused worse damage than the US minesweeper.

The Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) said this was the finding of a team of scientists that analyzed the damage caused by the F/V Min Long Yu.

The Chinese vessel destroyed 3,902 square meters of corals —including some massive corals 500 years old. This is 66 percent more damage than the 2,345.67 square meters damaged by the USS Guardian when it ran aground Jan. 17.

“The damage the Chinese vessel caused to the reef is heart-breaking. Some of the massive corals that were pulverized are estimated to be about 500 years old,” Tubbataha Protected Area superintendent Angelique Songco says.

The USS Guardian measures 224 feet by 39 feet, while the Chinese fishing vessel was only  48 meters long and eight meters wide.

Dr. Wilfredo Licuanan of De La Salle University (DLSU) led the team that conducted the assessment from April 23 to 30.

 In the team were marine biologists Miledel Christine Quibilan, Eznairah Jeung Narida and Renmar Martinez from the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute and Norievel España of DLSU.

 Also with the team were the Automated Rapid Reef Assessment System team (Philippine Department of Science and Technology), World Wildlife Fund-Philippines, Tubbataha Management Office and marine park rangers.

 The TMO says the damage extended from the original location of the F/V Min Long Yu when it ran aground on April 8. Big waves caused the vessel to move from its original position before it was pulled off the reef after 11 days.

“It bulldozed through vibrant coral reefs leaving a highway of destruction in its wake,” says the TMO.

The TMO sent an official communication to the Chinese Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs seeking assistance in identifying the person or company liable.

 So far, no response from the Chinese.

The 12 Chinese on board have been charged with poaching and possession of protected species, as well as for attempting to bribe park rangers.

* * *

What I would like to know is what our local Communists and their sympathizers  (who wanted the entire crew of the USS Guardian hanged and the US government to apologize) are saying now. Should the Chinese also be hanged and fined much more than they wanted the United States to pay? After all, the Chinese caused more damage than the Americans did..

At least the US dismantled their vessel. We haven’t heard even one peep from our local Commies or the official Chinese who even ignore the TMO’s official communications.

*  * *

I fully agree with Palace  spokesperson Edwin Lacierda’s  answer to threats made by the communist rebels that they will intensify their attacks after the government announced the end to peace talks:

“They have not really ceased attacking the government since formal talks started more than 20 years ago.

“You can characterize the position taken by the NDF in four words, and with due respect to the novel by Ian Fleming, ‘Chatty-Chatty-Bang-Bang.’ We talk while violence continues.”

Lacierda refers to Fleming’s novel, “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car.”

 “The violence being perpetrated by the NPA has never stopped. So this is nothing new. The armed forces is always ready,” he adds.

What we should do is consult the Malaysians and the Indonesians who have no more Communist insurgencies or insurgents in their countries. Basically, these ASEAN neighbors ruthlessly wiped out their Communists. By talking to what are in essence mainly bandits, our government has weakened its position with its own people. The bandits have been recognized as an opposition force, which it is really not. They are just plain criminals posing as ideologues.

They are our enemies — bandits who will help the Communist Chinese if they ever will invade our country. Wiping them out now, while we still can is the only way to go!

* * *

Malaysia had its elections Sunday, May 5.

The former heir-apparent in the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Anwar Ibrahim is today its most feared enemy.

Anwar, a Rizal scholar, now 65, says:

“I just want to prove that you can run the country with good governance, eliminate corruption… and make Malaysia a mature democracy.”

UMNO has towered over Malaysia through a coalition government since independence from Britain in 1957, but now faces rising pressure over corruption and authoritarian tactics.

Much of the credit for the changing landscape goes to the mercurial Anwar, whose charisma, oratorical skills and appeal across multi-ethnic Malaysia’s racial lines breathes life into a once-hapless opposition.

His three-party Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Pact) faces a formidable, dug-in foe; yet many analysts see the result of Sunday’s polls as too close to call.

Anwar was an Islamic student leader who was taken in by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who dominated Malaysia for 22 years and fast-tracked Anwar to the top.

Anwar looked set to succeed Mahathir.

But a 1998 power struggle between them, in which Anwar criticized cronyism and graft, saw Anwar sacked and later jailed on sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Anwar says he was kept in solitary confinement, singing 1960s pop tunes to stay sane and reading the Koran, the Bible, Shakespeare — anything he could get.

Released in 2004 when the sodomy charge was overturned, he later led the opposition to its best showing ever in 2008 polls, taking more than a third of parliament.

Now in the clear, Anwar predicts victory and sweeping change for Malaysia.

* * *

Anwar Ibrahim is a personal friend of Joseph Estrada, who was also jailed on trumped-up charges and is also about to take over the City of Manila.

He has pledged to root out rampant graft, free government-controlled traditional media and reform policies that give advantages to Malays but are criticized as a drag on the economy and a source of racial resentment.

A former finance minister, he advocates populist social and economic policies savaged by UMNO as fiscally irresponsible.

He insists, however, that attacking corruption and curbing illicit money outflows from Malaysia — which total billions of dollars a year will fund its agenda.

“Just by being transparent, we can achieve our goals,” he says.

The latest report of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project shows there are at least 28,593 “voters of foreign origin” on the electoral roll, most of them concentrated in Sabah and Selangor, both of which are considered to be important states in the elections.

The Selangor state government, led by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, alleges that 28 percent of the 440,000 new voters in Selangor who have registered since the last elections cannot be identified. All attempts by the state government to have the election commission investigate or even hear the complaints have failed.

Anwar could still lose, however. Their elections are, apparently, still very much like what we had during the Marcos years and prior. For instance, for the first time in Malaysian elections. indelible ink is applied to a voter’s nail to make sure that there are no flying voters.

            * * *

Joy Cortes Delos Reyes, the Editor-in-Chief of Malaya Business Insight passed away May 3, 2013. He was 59. His remains will be brought from his home town of Balete, Aklan to Manila and a wake held from tonight, May 7 to Friday, May 10 at the University of the Philippines Chapel in UP Diliman, Quezon City.

Dick Sinchongco, radio reporter for DZRH and  UNTV, died August 5, 2013. His wake at St. Joseph Chapel at Mt. Carmel Shrine, New Manila, started yesterday.

Both Joy and Dick were also among my golf buddies.

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hvp 05.06.13

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@gmail.com or you can send me a message through Twitter @diretsahan.

Malaya (05.06.13)

“Thus, she came up with a peso figure of a little over P7 million for the $700,00 she paid in 2006, which was then actually P36 million.. Still, do the math. What is 1/4th of P27 million? P6.7 million! It still does not compute.”

                                                                       

by Ducky Paredes

   What is our numero uno Senator saying that we can believe? Hardly anything.

For instance, she says that she bought a condo in New York in 2006, which, she says, is reflected in her 2007 SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth under “Investments” in the amount of over P7 million, which. she says, represent the quarter of the worth of the condo, since, she says she co-owns that condo with three other; thus, she says, all she owns is a share of 1/4th of the condo.

What we know for a fact (as registered in New York’s public records) is that the condo (10-B 77 Park Avenue) was bought in 2006 for $700,000 which was registered in the name of only one person: Loren B. Legarda.

Going by the prevailing peso-dollar rate in 2006, $700,000 would be about $36 million. So, how can $700,000 divided by 4 ($175,000) be worth only a little over P7 million? At the exchange rate in 2006, which was about P50 to a US dollar, her quarter share would be about P8.75 million. So, what was that entry of over P7 million that she made in her 2007 SALN actually referring to? Is there still another hidden asset, now being conveniently used as an excuse for not including her condo in 2007 when it was bought in 2006?

Clearly, the deed to the condo carries only one name as sole owner: Loren B. Legarda.

What is the truth? She has presented a certification of an accountant that the P7 million in her 2007 SALN is the NY Condo. This certification is jointly notarized by two well-known lawyers from different well-known law offices. Yet, clearly, what is on that piece of paper can’t be the whole truth.

(We are told that Atty. Louis Barok Biraogo’s NY pals will be filing a perjury case in New York against out numero uno Senator for lying in the documents she signed when se bought the condo.)

* * *

How did a simple transaction get so fouled up. One guesses that when she belatedly decided (during the impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Renato Corona whose hidden wealth came out through his hidden real estate holdings), she decided to reveal her condo in her 2011 SALN.

When she declared ownership of the condo in 2011, the exchange rate was closer then to P40 to the dollar.

Thus, she came up with a peso figure of a little over P7 million for the            $700,00 she paid in 2006, which was then actually P36 million.

Still, do the math. What is 1/4th of P27 million? P6.7 million! It still does not compute.

* * *

What we would like to know and what she clearly owes us all is the whole truth? Do we have a latter-day Imelda as our numero uno senator?

Of course, it is too late in the day for any other senatorial aspirant to overtake  Loren’s lead.

My guess is that she will still top the Senate race because our electorate really does not understand what an election is about. It is not, to them, electing the best ones who can do the job or the ones who are squeaky clean so that they will, hopefully, not steal too much. Not Filipinos. Our elections are no more than popularity contests.  That is our basis for electing those we elect — to affirm their popularity. Thus, Loren need not worry. She will still top the  race.

What happens to her, after the elections is something that she will still have to face.

Still, even for that, there is a practice could help her. It is that of forgiving whatever dastardly deed a politician may have done after the politico wins an election. After all, politicos argue, the people have decided that whatever it is that I did (that my accusers have brought before the general public) have already been forgiven by the sovereign people of this country by their electing me. Sadly, many judges seem to agree that this stupid argument is part of our law.

Only in the Philippines, where it’s more fun being numero uno Senator.

* * *

What “intriga” was Kris Aquino casting when she announced that she would be running for Tarlac Governor in 2016 before later admitting that she knows that she still does not qualify for any public office until she has earned enough credentials.

She said then that she had talked to Governor Vic Yap and that the governor promised that in 2016 “he would give it to me.”

Of course, Kris knows that public office is not given as a gift  but earned. Thus, was Kris’ remark for a cousin who is spending the family fortune on her run forgovernor even as, from the surveys, she will end up with perhaps just 10% of the vote in a three-cornered fight. Or, was Kris throwing a monkey wrench at the governor’s campaign with the intention of helping along her cousin’s run a tiny, tiny bit?

We’ll probably ever know. Perhaps, Kris was only reminding Tarlaquenos to show more respect for Big Brother Noynoy as their very own President.

Remember PNoy’s “tampo” when he reminded a town in Tarlac that they never even once invited him when he wasonly a congressman and when he was only a senator.  At any rate, as President, he promised them that all the roads of thetown would be better when he finally leaves Malacanang in 2016.

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hvp 05.05.13

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@gmail.com or you can send me a message through Twitter @diretsahan.

“She declared that lying in one’s SALN is just cause for removal from office.“

by Ducky Paredes

In yesterday’s column, I featured a revelation of Atty. Louis Biraogo that our numero uno senator is no better than Renato Corona whom she judged as unfit to continue as Chief Justice. As it turns out, Senator Loren Legarda is just as guilty of the same thing. Here is Atty. Biraogo’s  letter:

“I write to you in my capacity as a public interest advocate who has gone all the way to the Supreme Court (SC) on many occasions to question anomalous acts and omissions of the government and certain public officials.  My advocacy began in 1984 when I went to the SC to question the 350% tuition fee increases in the University of the Philippines.   A year later, I filed a petition in the SC to challenge the constitutionality of the “snap” presidential and vice presidential elections called by then President Ferdinand Marcos.

“My victories in court include the revocation of customs duties on the importation of reading materials in the country (Biraogo v. Teves), and the dismantling of the Truth Commission created by President Benigno Aquino III (Biraogo v. Phil. Truth Commission).  I have questioned the election of aliens to Congress (Biraogo v.Nograles), the power of SC justices to take back their signed decisions (In re Undated Letter of Biraogo), the power of the House of Representatives to sit as a constituent assembly without the participation of the Senate (Biraogo v. Commission on Elections), the refusal of Congress to enact legislation outlawing political dynasties, and the inaction of the national government on the Philippines claim to Sabah (Biraogo v. Del Rosario).  Also, I am the lead petitioner in the current legal battle in the SC over the highly unpopular Anti-Cyber Crime Act.

“I stated the foregoing litany of my advocacies against government excesses to impress upon you the gravity of this matter.

“During one of the campaign sorties of President Aquino several days ago, I heard President Aquino endorse his senatorial candidates as his partners in leading the nation to his daang matuwid or “path of righteousness.”  I am unsettled by the knowledge that one of his endorsees is Senator Loren Legarda, who is running for re-election.

“It will be recalled that during the 2012 impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, Senator Legarda voted to convict the highest official of the land.  In her speech justifying her vote against Corona, Legarda said that public trust is earned, and that Corona should have been truthful in all of the entries he made in his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).  Legarda stressed that Corona should be convicted in the same way that a minor court employee was removed from office by the SC for her failure to declare in her SALN that she had a leasehold right over a stall in the public market.  If Corona is acquitted, Legarda said, “we will tragically lift the floodgates of public distrust” and “we (will) lower the bar of public accountability.”  She declared that lying in one’s SALN is just cause for removal from office.

“During the Corona impeachment trial, Senator Legarda scolded the Land Registration Authority (LRA) for the inaccurate listing of the 45 real properties owned by Corona.  By voting to convict Corona, Legarda left no room for doubt that her inaccuracies, concealment and other inconsistencies have no place in public documents, especially on SALNs.

 ”In the course of my research, I discovered from the on-line services of the New York City Registry of Property Deeds that on May 9, 2006, Senator Legarda purchased the following real estate at the princely sum of US$700,000.00 –

“Owner:  LOREN B. LEGARDA

“Address:  10B 77 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK

“Property Type:  SINGLE RESIDENTIAL CONDO UNIT

“Based on the peso-dollar exchange rate back in May 2006, Legarda purchased the said condominium for P36,000,000.00.  This is not surprising because I understand that real estate along Park Avenue in New York City is among the most expensive in the world.  Accompanying this letter are some e-mail photographs of the said condominium unit.  I have also attached a step-by-step presentation on how to access official documents from the New York City Registry of Property Deeds so that your periodical may directly confirm Senator Legarda’s ownership of the Park Avenue property.  

“Two questions now arise – Where did Senator Legarda get the money to buy her Park Avenue condominium unit?  Did Legarda declare this asset in her SALN?

“In a recent speech before the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Senator Legarda said, ‘You can get my SAL, it’s public record.  It’s with the Senate President’s office.’  I did as she suggested and looked at her SALNs from 2007 to 2011.  It appears that her Park Avenue condominium unit was declared for the first time only in her SALN for 2011.  It was not declared in her SALNs for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.  In addition, there is nothing in her SALN for 2011 which explains where she got the P36M to acquire her Park Avenue condominium unit.                                         

“As a citizen concerned with the future of our country, it is my earnest hope that the information I have retrieved will help determine if Senator Legarda is also guilty of the same wrongdoing for which she voted to convict Chief Justice Corona.  If she is, then the righteous public official has now become a veritable Lady Corona. ” — Louis “Barok” C. Biraogo

* * *

How many of our senators who judged Renato Corona as unfit to continue as a public servant are as guilty as Corona was of exactly the same thing — enriching themselves in office and hiding their sin by not reporting the truth in their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN)?

We need reform in our Senate, starting with taking away their pork allocations. Their job is to write laws. Why give them funds that they can put in their pockets without fear of discovery because, as Senators, they have made themselves exempt from audit by the Commission on Audit (COA).

We have a Senate made up of of millionaires who enrich themselves with pubic funds. How can we expect them to give us good work when we have made them dependent on what they steal from us?

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hvp 05.02.13

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@gmail.com or you can send me a message through Twitter @diretsahan.