Ducky Paredes

“LWUA, under Jamora  was cited by the Department of Finance (DOF) as among the few ‘truly earning government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).’”

by Ducky Paredes

 

Former MWSS Administrator Lorenzo Jamora was recommended to the post by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales and for good reason. Raul’s province mate had done well as Local Water Utilities Administrator.

In 2001 LWUA was in bad financial shape. Loan availments for various projects reached only P642 million. Collection of interest and principal payments from loans granted to various water districts was a mere P860 million. Prior year’s collections were even less.

In 2002, under Jamora, marked improvements were achieved. Cash collections increased to P933 million and in 2003, P1.096 billion. These were attained through increased efficiency in the operations of water districts by way of LWUA’s training assistance, water rate review, installation of commercial systems or corporate practices, and better monitoring on the use of non-revenue water. Non-revenue water are those supplied for free through the public or community faucets.

The government’s provincial water supply development agenda got a much needed boost in 2004 with LWUA registering  P2.4 billion in water project disbursements and Pl.3 billion in loan collection from beneficiary water districts.

LWUA, under Jamora  was cited by the Department of Finance (DOF) as among the few “truly earning government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).”

Meanwhile, an additional 250,000 people residing in the countryside were given direct access to piped potable water supply with the completion 41 water system improvement and expansion projects in as many provincial areas worth a combined P685 million.

When Jamora was fired from the MWSS, it was a wonder why Raul Gonzales seemed to even be helping paint his former protégé in a bad light.

Around a month a half ago, in an interview on a prominent Iloilo radio station, Gonzales boasted that a case of plunder would “be filed against a high-ranking Ilonggo government official.” Raul was obviously alluding to Jamora.

At the time of that interview, no charges or complaints against Jamora were even on the horizon. But, of course, Gonzales’ prediction became true, as late last week, a complaint was filed at the DOJ by two employees of the MWSS.

Looking at the charges, they are flimsy at best. First, Jamora is accused of “plunder” because of allegedly misappropriating (without prior authorization) P791 million in MWSS funds.

Jamora purposely placed these funds in the Land Bank of the Philippines under trust with the MWSS (not any individual) as the sole trustee and beneficiary, which were then used to invest in high-yielding government securities. Jamora did this legally –- with the Board’s approval. The money is safe, secure, fully accounted for, and held in Trust in the company’s name.  Where is the impropriety in this?

Jamora is also accused of unliquidated advances amounting to P50 million. A quick look at the 2007 COA exit report shows that none of the auditors mentioned any unliquidated advances. How can the COA miss an amount of P50 million?

Perhaps the venue where the complaints were filed is more revealing than the charges themselves.  If you have nothing substantial against your enemy, at least attack him on your own turf.  Logically, these charges ought to have been brought before either the Office of the Ombudsman or to the Commission on Audit, considering that the issues concern an alleged misappropriation of funds from a grant to the water agency.

Also, how in the world did Gonzales know in advance that two employees of the MWSS would file charges against his former protégé?  Thousands of people clearly heard Raul Gonzales on the radio; and, a recording and transcript are available.

Raul Gonzales could well be our worst Justice Secretary ever. His lack of popularity is legendary. Some of his critics refer to him as “Krung-Krung” because of his bizarre jokes and wild, irreverent comments.  Others label him “Hitler” or “Goonzales” for the despotic way he runs the DOJ. To administration supporters, he’s a decrepit loose cannon who does more harm than good and should have been laid to pasture a long time ago.

         But, Raul is not about to exit the political scene when GMA leaves in 2010. He has, on several occasions, indicated his determination to present himself as a candidate for Mayor of Iloilo city which is presently represented in Congress by his son Raul Jr. . 

         With his eyes fixed on the mayoralty, he’s now taking shots at his former protégé, former MWSS Administrator Lorenzo Jamora, whom he sees as his rival for the mayoralty of Iloilo City, Meanwhile, Palace insiders say that Jamora was tapped to discretely look into reports of wrongdoings of his successor at MWSS, Diosdado Allado. But, that’s another story all together. 

* * *

Clearly, the MILF negotiators have outsmarted those from the Republic of the Philippines. All of the gains are on the side of the Bangsa Moro; there are non for the RP side.

Sure, this will temporarily end hostilities. If it were to flare up again, the war will be between Bangsa Moro (as accepted by the rest of the world) and the RP. Why did we agree to this – just to end hostilities?

For the information of everyone, hostilities would have ended if Joseph Estrada had remained President and what we would have ended with would have been one country, one nation, one people. Under one flag. Erap had beaten the MILF and the separatists in battle. The end was near. Sadly, a new government came in that returned all the gains of his presidency to the separatists.

This is a victory for Moro separatism. The held belief of most Filipino Muslims is that they have never been conquered (unlike their weaker and more docile Christian brothers). By giving them their own homeland, they interpret this as the RP surrendering to them.

What will this result in? How about an Ifugao homeland, and a Tingguian Homeland and a Hingaonon Homeland and so on? We seem to be headed not towards nationhood but to a return to our state when the Europeans had not yet set foot on what they called the Philippines.

Other countries are also made up of many faiths and many tribes and races. They work towards all working together for one nation; we, on the other hand, seem to be going the other way. This is wrong!

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hvp 08.04.08)

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

“(W)hatever money they spend on this can always be recovered — in one way or the other — from our electricity bills.” 

by Ducky Paredes

Some lawyers convince a client that for a certain amount of money, one can have a positive result in a pending case. In fact, some law firms actually concentrate on cases like these.

After all, the lawyer, whether or not he can actually get some Justice to accept a bribe and do his bidding, still has an even probability of getting the desired result. The court can only go two ways – for or against the client, guilty or innocent. Whichever way it goes, one has a fifty-fifty chance of hitting the jackpot!

In the event that the result that was paid for pans out, the excuse will be something like “the other side gave more” or “politics forced the Court to rule otherwise” and the money is returned to the client. Some law firms and lawyers actually only run this as a scam. There are some law firms, however, that will actually deliver on their promised result, by hook or by crook. These are the ones that give lawyering and our justice system a bad name.

In the current brouhaha between confessed deal-maker Francis Roa de Borja and Court of Appeals Justice Jose Sabio, Jr., their versions of a conversation they had at the Ateneo Law School in Makati (while Sabio was waiting for his wife to fetch him for home) are diametrically opposed to each other; but, they both agree that there was talk of bribery.

To his students and a fellow Ateneo professor, it “would be out of character” for Justice Sabio to accept a bribe, much less ask for one. He is known to be straight-as-an-arrow as can be expected of the professor handling legal ethics for the Ateneo.

Businessman Francis De Borja, on the other hand, says that he is a childhood friend of Manila Electric Company (Meralco) Chairman Manolo Lopez and is an acquaintance of a principal in a law firm that was a bleep on the radar during the Ramos presidency and finally looms monstruously large during the current administration.

In the current situation, Justice Sabio is the victim. Evelyn Clavano, a resident of Cagayan de Oro City, has issued a sworn statement saying that Francis called her:

“Francis de Borja requested me if I have the cell phone number of Justice Jose L. Sabio Jr. He related that because he is very close to the Lopezes of Meralco, he wanted to call him (Sabio) regarding his possible inhibition in a certain Meralco case, wherein he was designated as a substitute member of the division vice a justice who was temporarily on-leave by reason of sickness.

“He further said that the Lopezes desire that the same Justice, with whom the Lopezes are more comfortable, to sit in the division. So, I gave Francis de Borja the cell phone number of Justice Jose L. Sabio Jr. through business card.”

Sabio was the lawyer of the family of the late Governor and Congressman Oloy Roa, the father of Evelyn Clavano, when Sabio was still in his private practice in Cagayan de Oro, Borja was a real estate broker who sold some of the Roa properties.

According to Sabio, he and Francis had a conversation during which the amount of P10 million was offered, if he would turn over the Meralco-GSIS case to another justice, more to Meralco’s liking. Says Sabio: “I was shocked he had a very low regard for me. He was treating me like there was a price on my person. I was stunned pero hindi ko magawang bastusin siya.”

Sabio then cut de Borja off by saying he had to leave and walked away.

De Borja continued to  try to reach Sabio in the succeeding days, even resorting to using other mutual friends to try to get Sabio to reconsider.

In one call, de Borja said: “Sayang kung hindi ito tatanggapin, sayang ang P10 million.”

“I could not believe he would repeat an offer. I repeated my ‘no.’ He could not understand,” says Sabio.

The people who sent de Borja to Sabio ignored the fact that Sabio has been a justice for almost a decade now, a member of the Philippine Judicial Academy’s Ethics and Judicial Conduct Department, and a pre-bar reviewer on legal and judicial ethics at the Ateneo de Manila University. Did they also know that Sabio is a member of the Opus Dei who even sent his daughter in an immersion and humility lesson to work as a housemaid for six months? If they knew Sabio better, they would never have tried to bribe him.

What was behind that outrageous de Borja claim (after Sabio came out with the story of the P10-million offer) that Sabio said that he was offered a Supreme Court posting and lots of money in the event that he did what the Meralco adversary wanted, is what a lawyer-friend sees as a warning shot from Francis’ principals to all justices. The warning: Do not reject our offer if you do not want to face the same problem that Justice Sabio is now facing.

He could well be right.

De Borja’s story of the P50 billion counter-offer of Justice Sabio is an impossibility. There is no way that Sabio, to whom reputation is everything, would say anything like that to anyone else. Certainly, too, the perceived Meralco enemy in the case, would not go that far. So, why would Sabio be so foolish to go so high. Clearly, the idea was to shock the public with this story on judicial chicanery, which is actually initiated by people like Francis de Borja who go around talking to justices about their cases, contrary to all ethical practices.

The one mistake of Justice Sabio was that he believed everything that de Borja told him (even to the detail that Manolo Lopez was waiting in his car for Francis) and that he did not – as he should have – tell his former business associate that he does not discuss cases before him outside of the court room. Justice Sabio, for all of his high principles, is still too accommodating for his own good.

As for Meralco, it might actually have taken to trying to get the devil himself to fix their case for them, no matter what the cost may be. After all, whatever money they spend on this can always be recovered — in one way or the other — from our electricity bills.

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hvp 08.03.08)

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

“Still, if and when Bong does run for Vice President, expect me to take notice and, very possibly, umbrage.“

by Ducky Paredes

We have two letters on our recent columns to which we are giving space today. The first is from the Office of Senator Ramon Bong Revilla and, its tone and gentility tells me that I may have misjudged the senator:

‘I begin by expressing my complete agreement with you that ‘…we have chosen our leaders very badly’ and that ‘Our political parties are gangs built on personal pursuits rather than ideals of public service.’
“However, despite this agreement on these two basic propositions, I cannot agree with the entirety of the writer’s opinion and his conclusions, which I believe is unfair, and the name-callings uncalled for. It seems that the good writer has been misinformed, or is uninformed at the very least.
“Prior to being elected Senator, Bong Revilla was elected Vice Governor of Cavite where he led its Anti-Illegal Drug campaign. Its success was recognized globally, which gained for him an International Award of Honor and Medal of Valor from the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association (INEOA) based in Albany, New York. When he received these recognitions, he bested counterparts from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other international counterparts.
“In 1998, he was elected Governor and concurrently served as Region 4’s Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council. You may recall that it was during this period that industry thrived in CALABARZON and Region 4. It was also during this period that Cavite saw a transformation from being the murder capital of the Philippines to one of the most peaceful provinces in the country. He headed various programs which gained for him a recognition from President Joseph Estrada as the Most Outstanding Governor of the country. Senator Bong Revilla also received an international citation, this time from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for his efforts recognized worldwide against child labor.
“In 2002, Bong Revilla was appointed Chairman of the defunct Videogram Regulatory Board. His efforts gained attention from the international community, and led to the country’s anti-piracy efforts being recognized as the most aggressive in the South East Asian region. In fact, he was even recognized in Hollywood by the Motion Picture Association of America and Motion Picture Association International for his outstanding achievements in the anti-piracy campaign. This recognition was unprecedented.
“Finally, official Senate records will bear out that Senator Bong Revilla is, in fact. one of the highest performing Senators in 13th and ongoing 14th Congress. He belongs to the group with the most number of bills filed, most number of bills filed now signed into law, number of bills sponsored to become law, and the number of bills perused and acted upon by a committee as committee chair.
“In the 13th Congress alone, he has successfully sponsored 19 bills that are now law. In the Committee of Public Works, he has acted upon hundreds of bills that were referred to his committee.
“In the 14th Congress, he has already sponsored the Citizen’s Right of Reply Bill which has now been approved on third reading. The reduction of amusement taxes from 30% to 10% has also been approved on third reading. Four of his bills filed are now law. These are the Tax Exemption on Minimum Wage Earners, the Expansion of the Court of Tax Appeals, the new UP Charter, and the Magna Carta for Small and Medium Enterprises.
“Senator Revilla is also working on the amendment of the Local Water Utilities Administration Charter to expand its capabilities that will enable it to provide potable drinking water to every household in the country. He is also pushing for the mandatory wearing of helmets among motorcycle riders, and keeping off children below the age of seven from riding motorcycles. There is also the anti-pornography measure that he has been trying pass since the 13th Congress. The Anti-Cable theft and signal pilferage act has just concluded its committee stage and will soon be sponsored on the floor. The Anti-Billboard Blight Act which was approved on third reading in the 13th Congress will now be on second reading.
“Because of these accomplishments and many others, Senator Bong Revilla is now a holder of two doctorate degrees, honoris causa, one in Public Administration from the Cavite State University , and the other in Humanities from the Nueva Vizcaya State University.
“Just recently, the Senator personally extended his assistance to the victims of typhoon Frank in the provinces of Iloilo and Aklan. In fulfillment of his promise to the children involved in the Jun Ducat hostage-taking last year, he has been sending these children to school for two years now.
“Surely, this is what is meant by performance, or is it not? It is true that Senator Bong Revilla is not as noisy and as publicity hungry as other politicians, but does it make his performance less? We have always been clamoring for public servants who would prioritize his responsibilities to the people over grandstanding and self-promotion, but when we encounter such public servants, some of us are very dismissive and quick to judge.
“I hope that I have shed light on the matter, and in the spirit of responsible journalism and fairness, I pray that this response be published and given space in your column.” — Felix Robert A. Moraleda, Media Relations
* * *
Still, if and when Bong does run for Vice President, expect me to take notice and, very possibly, umbrage.
* * *
We have a letter from Atty. Victor Avecilla, who was the lawyer who filed a disqualification case against Rep. Josy Limkaichong. Of course, he disagrees completely with our column on the same subject and asks to be given space to explain the other side. I have expunged his snide remarks about me and other parts of his letter which were really unessential. Here is the gist of what he wanted to say:
“(A case was filed by) two residents of La Libertad, Negros Oriental on April 2007 with the COMELEC to disqualify Mrs. Limkaichong from running as congressman because she is not a Filipino citizen and under the 1987 Constitution, Section 6, Article VI, only natural born Filipino Citizens can become member of Congress.
“On May 17, 2007, The Comelec 2nd Division, after due hearing resolved to declare Jocelyn Limkaichong a Chinese citizen, and therefore disqualified to sit in the House of representatives. The Comelec also ordered the suspension of her proclamation until the finality of the decision. The Comelec 2nd Division arrived at the conclusion that Limkaichong is Chinese citizen because her father Julio Ong Sy has remained a Chinese citizen due to his failure to acquire Filipino Citizenship in the naturalization proceedings that he undertook.
“Quoting from the Comelec 2nd Division’s ruling, ‘Petitioners have successfully discharge their burden of proof and that convincingly shown with pieces of documentary evidence that Julio Ong Sy, father of Respondent Jocelyn Limkaichong, failed to acquire Filipino citizenship for the following reasons: The OSG was deprived of its participation in the naturalization proceedings for failure by Julio Ong Sy and the CFI to furnish said office a copy of the decision in the said proceedings. The OSG being the counsel for the government is an indispensable party and must participate in all the proceedings but it was not able to do so under the circumstances. Therefore, lacking the participation of an indispensable party the proceedings are null and void and no rights could arise therefrom.’ The law on the matter is very clear. Commonwealth Act No, 473 Sections 10, 11 and 12 provide that the Solicitor General shall appear in behalf of the Government in all naturalization proceedings and all the hearings thereof, that the final order or decision of the court in said proceedings must be furnished to the OSG and after the lapse of 30 days from receipt of said order or decision may file an appeal to the Supreme Court or may manifest no objection to the said order.
“Further the Comelec 2nd Division stated that Julio Ong Sy made another fatal error by taking his oath of allegiance prematurely. He took his oath prior to lapse of the 30 day reglamentary period as stated above. The decision declaring Julio Ong Sy as naturalized Filipino was September 21, 1959. He took his oath of allegiance on October 21 1959 which is exactly 30 days after and certainly still within the reglementory period.
“Lastly, Mrs. Limkaichong filed a Motion for Reconsideration on the above-mentioned ruling of the Comelec 2nd Division and the MR was dismissed by the COMELEC en ban and the said ruling became final and executory because she failed to question it in the Supreme Court within the five-day reglementary period as provided under the Comelec Rules.
“We are not questioning the character of Mrs JosieLimkaichong, whether she’s good or evil, or whether she did well in performing her duties as mayor or congressman.”
* * *
Okay, you’ve said your piece, counselor. So, how is it (if what you have given us is the
truth, the whole truth ann nothing but) that Josy Limkaichong sits as Congresswoman today, having been proclaimed by the Comelec as the duly elected qualified congresswoman for her district?
At any rate, I do not mind giving you some space to explain your view but, next time, do be more complete in the telling. Give us also what else happened, not only what you told the Comelec and your clients.

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hvp (07.31.08)

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

“So, why are our senators and congressmen even asking questions? Didn’t they write that law?”

by Ducky Paredes

After the stirring words of the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), as the legislature returns to its main job of crafting our laws, perhaps our senators and congressmen ought to look at how they have fared as legislators.

The measure ought to be not on the number of laws they have crafted but on the quality and relevance of these laws. For instance, why are they complaining that the personnel in the Bureau of Customs are – undeservedly – taking home so much in bonuses just because the price of oil has increased. Actually, the reason that this is happening is because of a law that the legislature crafted and hurriedly passed, as it were – without thinking!

Under the provisions of this law — Republic Act (RA) No. 9335, or the Attrition Act of 2005 – personnel in our main tax revenue bureaus – Internal Revenue and Customs – will be fired or retained depending on their performance. The way that performance is measured is in pesos and centavos. The more one collects, the better one’s performance.

Thus, when the world market price of oil increased from less than $60 per barrel to over $100 per barrel, the collections of the Customs Bureau increased at the same rate. Thus, under the provisions of the Attrition Act, Customs performance was phenomenal.

There is as much smuggling going on; in fact, it may even have increased; there is as much misdeclaration of value (often done with the connivance of customs personnel; as much pilferage and whatever else goes on under the watch of the Customs Commissioner; still, all because the collections increased (not because the service has improved or has become more efficient) they are all legally entitled to millions in bonuses.

So, why are our senators and congressmen even asking questions? Didn’t they write that law?

* * *

Under the late unlamented rule of Ferdinand Marcos, there was a perfectly good mechanism for controlling the retail price of oil products. This was the OPSF – Oil Price Stabilization Fund. The way that this worked was that the government managed a fund for the oil companies.

The retail price of oil products is pegged at a certain level. When the world price of oil moves up or down, the price is maintained and the oil companies put excess profits into the fund when the set price is higher than the mandated price; when the reverse happens – the mandated retail price is higher than what it should be, the oil companies take money out of the OPSF to make up for the price difference.

Our legislature killed this goose when it deregulated the oil industry. Thus, now we have no mechanism that would moderate the movement of retail oil prices.

Can we go back to the old system? Not anymore. Can we trust the present leadership to set up such a system without their making some big bucks for themselves? While we may have had the same doubts about Marcos, there was really nothing that anyone could do about it because he was then dictator. It was, however, a good system that was adopted by other countries (after seeing how well it worked in the Philippines) and which they continue to use.

In our case, when the Marcos era ended, the big pile of money n the OPSF was too tempting for the next administrations . It was used to infuse money into the National Power Corporation. This only served to prolong the bleeding and delay the final solution which is still not over since the Napocor continues to operate in the red. Some of it was also used in the rehabilitation work after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo,

The OPSF is gone forever. Yet, some congressmen will still make noises about repealing the Oil Deregulation Law – as if this would have any effect on the current high price of oil products. What should have been done much earlier was to go aggressively into alternatives to oil as fuel. After all, there have been many studies that indicate that oil as a fuel source will be gone before the mid-point of this century. Most of us will no longer be around by then but our grandchildren will still be here.

Maybe, though, our legislators cannot see that far.

* * *

Sin taxes, like the VAT, are money generators for the government. Thus, one would think that the sources of this money would be allowed to develop so that more and more funds can come from them.

So, if the government depends on sin taxes for a great portion of its tax collections, why is congress wiring laws that make it almost impossible for the companies producing sin products to continue in business.

Recently, the law that prohibits tobacco advertisements came into effect. Will this cut down the number of smokers? I do not see any advertisements for shabu; yet, the report from the police and the PDEA is that users of shabu, marijuana and heroin continue to increase by leaps and bounds. Thus, the ban on tobacco advertisements may have some effect on the number of smokers; but, not by much.

A prospective law would have cigarette packaging with gruesome pictures of throat cancer, patients dying of lung cancer and so on. Why not just make cigarette manufacturing an illegal activity? Or, if you want to be fair about it, why not also have victims of car accidents plastered permanently on car windows and windshields to remind us all how dangerous cars really are? Or, why not pictures of grossly obese persons over every MacDonald’s and Jollibee counters? Or, drunks sleeping on the sidewalk on beer, gin, brandy and whiskey labels; or, better yet, drinkers who can’t get it up after an all-night binge.

What our legislators want to do with tobacco companies is unconscionable, forcing them to buy new machines to print those gruesome photos on their packaging, Thus, they would be buying the machines whose purpose is to drive them out of business.

* * *

I am presently in Singapore for the 26^th Asean Senior Golf Tournament under the Confederation of Asean Senior Golfers’ Association (CASGA). The Federation of Philippine Amateur Senior Golfers, Inc. (FPASGI) is one of the participating teams. Others are from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The newer Asean countries are not yet part of the CASGA. We have a team of 37 who will compete in medal play and Stableford competition, team and individual.

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hvp 07.28.08)

Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com