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That Petron Sale

“(G)overnment economic managers now foresee a deficit of some P75 billion for 2009.” 

by Ducky Paredes

 

            Selling the government’s remaining 40 percent stake in Petron Corporation will bring in close to P25.7 billion to the national coffers. The amount represents the expected revenue from the 3.75 billion government shares held by the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC). This will be sold at a price of P6.85 per share. This would have been an asset that. If held, could bring in more money at some future time but the sale is in line with the privatization policy of the government.

         Last October 6, Petron sent the Notice of Transfer to the Ashmore Group in compliance with the Right of First Offer (ROFO) provision of the Petron shareholders agreement which requires that notification of such intent to sell should be sent by the selling party to the other non-selling major stockholders.

         Ashmore has 60 days from receipt of such notice to indicate whether it intends to exercise this right. It can also pass on this right to a third party of its choosing in case it declines to buy the offered shares. Word in th market is that Ashmore was hard-hit by the current world financial crisis, which is wht San Miguel Corporation is expressing interest in taking over from Ashmore.

         The expected revenue will shore up the government’s finances at a time when the Philippines faces serious economic difficulties arising from the worldwide repercussions of the collapse of giant banking and financial institutions in the United States. It is to be noted that the US financial meltdown has shaken even such leading economies as Japan and the rich industrial nations of the European Union like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. The effect on us will be the diminution of out ecport trade with the US and Europe.

         Unlike last year when the government succeeded in paring down the budget deficit to just over P12 billion, government economic managers now foresee a deficit of some P75 billion for 2008 as a result of the sudden increase of prices of prime imports such as rice and oil this year. And while the price of oil in the international market has slipped below $80 dollars per barrel in the past few days, we are now feeling the effect of the US financial contagion, especially in the export sector and in both portfolio and foreign direct investments.

         To mitigate the impact of the expected economic slowdown, especially among the poorer segments of our population, the government will increase spending for social services and infrastructure. Hence, it has proposed a national budget of P1.415 trillion for 2009. Of this amount, P230 billion will go to infrastructure, 20.7 percent higher than the P122.2 billion allocation for this year. Greater infrastructure spending should help create jobs in the countryside and employ more poor people.

         More than P434.5 billion or about 30.7 percent of the 2009 budget is for social services. Budget Undersecretary Laura Pascua said that for the promotion of social security and welfare and employment alone, the government is allocating some P86 billion, or P16.5 billion more than what was programmed in the 2008 budget. The safety nets for the poor, she said, will come in the form of conditional cash transfers, skills training, health insurance assistance for indigents, scholarships and better educational services. A P40 billion fund is also provided in the 2009 budget for a Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan.

         The economic difficulties have also drawn the attention of the opposition. Senator Mar Roxas suggest that the government set aside a P100 billion fund to be spent for safety nets for the poor. Among other pro-poor programs, Roxas wants P10 billion for the conditional cash transfers to poor families; P20 billion for a one-time income tax credit or refund of P5,000 each for four million fixed-income workers; P12 billion for a health peace corps project; P20 billion in additional budget for the education sector; P200 billion for school books; P3.8 billion for the salaries and training of school teachers; and P7.2 billion to finance an extra year in high school.

         These will need a lot of money. However, the Department of Finance anticipates a budget shortfall of at least P60 billion, which could get bigger depending on how much negative impact the financial problems of the US and our trading partners in Europe will create for us.

         The sale of the PNOC shares in Petron will help bridge the funding gap next year and provide money for pump priming the economy.

         There is the question, of course, of whether the Ashmore Group would bite the government’s tender offer of P6.85 per share. At the moment, the Ashmore Group is already the majority stockholder of Petron. It bought the 40 percent share of Saudi Arabian firm Aramco last May and another 10.57 percent from small shareholders.

         In case Ashmore declines to buy the government stake, what would motivate other investors into gobbling up the 40 percent PNOC holding? It would help if Ashmore also sells its 50.57% share to the new investor. Petron is a god buy. It is the largest oil refinery in the country with the biggest share – at 38 percent – of the market, and supplies close to 40 percent of the Philippine’s total fuel needs.

         Petron is a stand-alone company with solid fundamentals and a wide customer base. In the first quarter of this year, Petron budgeted US$300 million to upgrade the petrochemical facilities of its refinery in Bataan. It posted a net income of P6.4 billion last year, up 6.3 percent over the 2006 profit.

         The company has diversified its interests, venturing into the production of petrochemical feed stocks and investing as well in non-fuel business, which it has been expanding. Its Petro Fluidized Catalytic (PetroFCC) unit and Propylene Recovery unit enable the production of what the company calls “white products” and the high value petrochemical feedstock propylene.

         It recently started operation of its Subic Bay blending plant that can produce 12,000 metric tons of fuel additives annually. The plant supplies the company’s additive requirements for its fuel brands like XCS and Dieselmax. The facility will not only generate savings for the company but also provide substantial income as well.

         It is clear, therefore, that while the amount of the investment alone calls for the participation of buyers with sufficient resources, Petron does represent a solid investment for serious investors on the lookout for prospects that they could hold on to over the long term.

         Another question that may be looming in the public mind is, why sell an asset that is not only part of a strategic industry, buy one that plays a social role – as in exerting influence in the pricing of socially sensitive products like gasoline, diesel, kerosene and LPG.

The question is relevant, but Petron is really only one of the players in the petroleum business, and as experience has shown, it has not really been able to exert any significant influence at all in the pricing of oil and petroleum products. In spite of the Oil Deregulation Law, real competition in the local petroleum business has not really been able to take root. The pricing of these products is largely dependent on market forces, both here and specially abroad.

In the first place, the sale of the PNOC share is in compliance with the privatization program of the government as an integral element of the country’s policy of deregulation and economic liberalization. The only real hope for local consumers of petroleum products is a dream that may never come — for our country to finally score an oil strike big enough to at least supply our own consumption.

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hvp 10.22.08)

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

Sulat ng OFW

Deretsahan

ni Horacio Paredes

Binibigyan ko ng pagkakataon ang isang OFW na magpahayag ng kaniyang komentaryo sa ating pulitika: “Sa kasalukuyang sistema ng ating pamamalakad, hindi maikakaila na ‘Kung ano ang puno ay siyang bunga’. Napakaliwanag nito sa katauhan ni GMA. Kaya nga nanalo siya noong nakaraang eleksyon ay dahil sa financial na itinulong ng mga galamay at alipores niya.

“Sa kasaysayan ng lahat ng Presidential Election sa Pilipinas, eto na yata ang pinaka maruming halalan na naganap nitong 2004. Eto ang naging balik, ipinuwesto ang mga kulelat na mga Senador at Congressmen na mga ka alyado ng partido niya sa mga nabakanteng sangay ng pamahalaan. Ultimong mga retired general na hindi naman linya ang ibang gawain sa pamahalaan ay isiningit ni GMA. Halos retired general na yata ang mga nakaupo sa mga government corporations.

“Nakaw dito nakaw doon, talamak na graft and corruption, double entry sa mga budget nila at kaniya-kaniyang pagpapayaman ang mga kupal. Sa mga problema ng bayan naman ngayon, isama na natin diyan ang giyera sa Mindanao, lantarang hueteng, pagkalat ng droga, kidnaping, lahat ng klase ng robbery at pagtaas ng hindi na mapigilang presyo ng krudo at mga pangunahing bilihin. Dagdag pa rito iyong pagkalbo ng ating mga kagubatan na isang sanhi ng malawakang pagbaha sa tuwing may bagyo. Natabunan na mga kasong tulad sa ZTE Broadband scandal, Fertilizer scam, mga suhulang hindi maipaliwanag na gawa ng palasyo, mga pondong nalustay tulad ng sa Commission On Election, atbp.

“May mga oposisyon na bumabatikos nga. Kapag nabusalan na ng salapi ang mga maiingay na bunganga ay namamatay at parang bulang naglalaho ang kanilang mga isinisiwalat. Wala na yatang mapipili sa kahit sinong namumuno ng ating pamahalaan na makagawa ng milagro at isang araw ay mapagbago ang lahat ng bulok na sistema ng kasalukuyang namamahala. Mga kapuwa magkakasama sa oposisyon ay nagbabangayan na rin at kaniya-kaniyang lakad na ang ginagawa.

“At sa mga OFW na itinuturing na mga bayani daw, ay lalung hinahanapan ng mga butas upang magatasan. Andidiyan na ang panukalang kaltasan ng buwis ang kanilang mga remittances sa isinusulong na panukala ni Speaker Nograles. Bawasan ng DST (Documentary Stamp) ang OFW remittances, na nakuha pang kalkalin at balak pang buhayin ayon kay Pat Sto. Tomas. Lahat na yata ng pagkakakitaang pabor sa gobyerno natin ay gustong ihataw ng mga kurimaw. Napakaraming OFW na naging biktima ng mga illegal recruiter, mga minamaltrato ng kanilang mga amo, may ginagahasa, hindi pinapasahod at mga kinasuhan na karamihan ay hindi nila kasalanan. Kaagad bang pumapapel ang dapat umayos sa kanilang suliranin. May natutulungan nga, pero mas marami ang napapariwara. Sa namumuno at mga kawani ng OWWA, gastahin naman ninyo at pumungit kahit isang porsyento ng billiong dollar na kita mula sa OFW upang matulungan sila sa oras ng kanilang pangangailangan.

“Sana naman ay bigyan pansin ang mga hinaing ng mga OFW tulad ng pagpapatayo ng sariling bangko na ang interest rate ay tama lang at kayang bayaran ang monthly amortization kapag pinahiram ka. Pagpapatayo ng mga hospital at paaralan para sa pamilya ng mga OFW. Housing at mga tenement homes na hindi gaanong masakit sa bulsa ang buwanang hulog. Exclusive subdivisions para sa medyo nakakaangat na OFWs. Magkaroon ng sariling negosyong popondohan ng OFW Bank na puwedeng pagkakitaan ng mga retiradong manggagawang permanenteng balik ng Pilipinas.

“At sa kasalukuyang Namumuno at lahat ng nanunungkulan sa ating pamahalaan, magising na sana kayo na pagmulat ng inyong mga mata minsan isang araw ay sama-samang baguhin ang bulok at napakaruming siste ng pamamalakad ng ating pamahalaan. Ilaan na sa tamang paraan ang pagagastos ng pera ng bayan. Huwag ng ibulsa at kumupit para sa sariling kapakanan. Maging tapat sa ating mga sinumpaang tungkulin sa inyong natitira pang termino.

“Imbis na kurakutin at ibulsa ang hindi dapat sa atin, ang lahat ng ito kapag nagamit sa tamang pamamaraan ay maisasakatuparan ang pagpapatayo ng mga nararapat na proyekto, tungo sa pag-unlad ng ating bayan.

“Makakaya natin ito at itayong muli ang nasirang imahen ng ating bansa tungo sa panibagong kinabukasan. Rod Pineda, Kemya Project CBI-LALCO

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Sana naman, Rod, ay mayroong tagapamahalaan na makukunsensiya pagkabasa ng iyong sinulat!

 

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hvp (10.22.08)

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

Gloria Arroyo as Cub Reporter

“(I)f there was any commitment, it might have come from the International Monetary Fund but, certainly, since the WB has denied it, this could not have come from the World Bank!” 

by Ducky Paredes

No amount of explanation can clarify why Gloria Arroyo took it upon herself to report to the world that the World Bank had agreed with her that they should help Asian nations and, thus, she reported,  the WB pledged $10 billion towards that end.

The next day, the World Bank clarified that it did not “anticipate” what Gloria had suggested and thus denied that it had done as Gloria was telling everyone. According to Gloria, the meeting was held in Washington, DC and the ASEAN nations agreed to put up a standby fund to which the WB had pledged $10 billion.

Later, Malacañang admitted that Gloria Arroyo made a mistake in announcing that the World Bank had committed to infuse $10 billion into her proposed regional bailout fund. Obviously, Gloria was reporting what her economic advisers had reported to her. Except that, somehow, she had gotten it wrong. She misunderstood. Yet, like some cub reporter on her first day on the job, Gloria excitedly included the item in a speech.

The real question is this: Why does she feel compelled to report to the world on things that she does not fully understand, did not fully comprehend and has no business reporting on it? It even showed gross ignorance of protocol. One who was not even in a meeting has no business announcing the results of that meeting.

Her financial advisers who ought to be saying “mea culpa” since they obviously did not report whatever it was well enough so that she could not misunderstand the report, want to pass the blame to the rest of us.

Says Trade Secretary Peter Favila who told her about the development and, either did not fully comprehend  it, did not get the full story, did not fully understand or failed to fully explain it to Gloria, says: “The President should not be blamed for it. Instead of bickering and finger pointing on an issue that can easily be clarified, we should work on getting the much-needed facility in the midst of a world financial meltdown.”

How did this snafu come about? Favila explains that Finance secretary Margarito Teves called him from Washington with the good news. Favilas then relayed this to the President. Clearly, something was lost in the retelling. As it turned out, if there was any commitment, it might have come from the International Monetary Fund but, certainly, since the WB has denied it, this could not have come from the World Bank!

Does this mean that Gloria and her financial advisers do not know the difference between the IMF and the WB? Or is it Teves alone who has no idea that the two are vastly different from each other?

Whatever it is, the more important question still is why Gloria Arroyo feel compelled to be the rapporteur for her Finance Secretary.

Why does she compete with the rest of the world in being the first to break the news. What’s in it for her? Certainly, even if this was an original Gloria Arroyo idea that a global financial institution (IMF or WB) approved, it is still far from being a truly original idea.  It is Gloria wanting to be in on the global financial crisis. She would set aside bailout funds for Asia even as the region does not need it. What killed the European and American financial markets was a lack of regulation. Out part of the world is, if anything, over-regulated.

Note that no one else in Asia of ASEAN is thinking of bailouts. All of us know that every Asian country can take care of itself.

Gaya-gaya puto maya.

The story gets very complicated and our Trade Secretary even goes out of his way to pick a fight with some WB officials just to save his President from embarrassment.

The one to blame is, of course, Gloria herself. It is not right for her to be making these types of announcements. That is not what a President is supposed to do. One can understand a newscaster wanting to be President but  why, in Heaven’s name would a President want to be a newscaster when she has never been one.

In fact, now Teves is saying that the regional fund that the Philippines proposed can still be set up with or without the IMF and/or the WB. This is a clear sign that the premature (contrary to all protocol) unauthorized announcement by Gloria Arroyo caused the two entities to back out altogether.

Does President earn points by being the first to deliver the news? Certainly, not if the news she brings is totally false. If she were a newscaster, she would be fired on the spot; it is too bad that there is no provision for firing an incompetent president.

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If DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno and PNP Chief Jesus Verzosa were telling the truth about the cash hoard that was found on  a retired PNP officer’s wife on leaving Russia after an Interpol meeting, that story would have died a natural death by now.

As it is, their constantly changing storylines only stresses that there are too many unanswered questions:

If the close to seven million pesos found in the bag of the wife of recently retired PNP comptroller Eliseo de la Paz was official PNP money, why was this in the possession of De La Paz’s wife? Shouldn’t this have been in De La Paz’s possession?

If this was money to cover the travel expenses of the PNP delegates to the Interpol Meeting in Russia, why was it still intact at the end of the trip?

Is it possible that the Russian customs personnel had been alerted that the wife was bringing out more than the allowed amount of currency? Because, why would she be the only one caught, if everyone else had also been so meticulously searched?

Is it possible that the De La Paz couple did not have this money when they left the Philippines since they never declared anything on leaving Manila or on entering Russia? (There is no cost or downside to declaring the amount of excess money one has on leaving or entering an international port. It is always wiser to do so. By not declaring one’s excess cash, one puts his money in danger of confiscation.)

Could this money have come from the Russian Mafia (which is constantly under surveillance) which could also be why Russian Customs knew that it would be in Mrs. De La Paz’s bag?

The police and customs in Russia used to be under the KGB, surely, they still have a lot of bright operatives working there – brighter than our own PNP officials, anyway.

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hvp 10.21.08)

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

The Indian Automated Election Machine

“380 million Indians cast their votes on more than 1 million machines. It was the world’s largest experiment in electronic voting to date.”

by Ducky Paredes

When the Commission on Elections was struggling with how it could still automate our elections, after the 2004 elections and after the Supreme Court ruled that the machines bought by the Comelec for the 2004 ballot would not work and could not be used — after each and every one of the Automatic Counting Machines (ACM) had been inspected, tested and passed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – Indian officials visited the Comelec offices.

They had with them  a device that looked like a cross between an abacus and an adding machine. Recently I found this item about it on the Internet and would pass it on to those who would spend P21 billion to purchase machines from outside the country. For the 2004 elections, Comelec bought those ACMs at only P1.3 billion and they could do the whole country. They were never used. Here’s a thought, why not go the way India went in 2004. Here is the story from Slate Magazine: 

Remember the Cold War tale of Soviet and American scientists racing to solve the problem of writing in zero gravity? NASA spent a decade and millions of dollars developing the high-tech Astronaut Pen. The Soviets solved the problem another way: They used a pencil.

The story turns out to be (mostly) urban legend, but the lesson holds true. Sometimes less is more. That seems to be the case as the world’s largest democracy, India, and the world’s most powerful, the United States, scramble to solve another technological puzzle: How to count votes accurately and transparently.

While we in the United States agonize over touch screens and paper trails, India managed to quietly hold an all-electronic vote. In May, 380 million Indians cast their votes on more than 1 million machines. It was the world’s largest experiment in electronic voting to date and, while far from perfect, is widely considered a success. How can an impoverished nation like India, where cows roam the streets of the capital and most people’s idea of high-tech is a flush toilet, succeed where we have not?

For decades, Indians cast their votes by marking a rubber stamp ballot and their thumbmark (as a defense against cheating). It took days to count the votes and months to sort out the allegations of fraud. Fifteen years ago, the Indian government commissioned two companies to design a simple electronic voting machine—one that was inexpensive, easy to use (even for the illiterate), and tamper-resistant.

The result is a machine that looks like a cross between a computer keyboard and a Casio music synthesizer. In fact, it’s not much of a computer at all, more like a souped-up adding machine. A column of buttons runs down one side. Next to each button is the name and symbol of a candidate or party. These are written on slips of paper that can be rearranged. That means unscrupulous politicians couldn’t rig the machines at the factory, since they wouldn’t know which button would be assigned to which candidate. Also, the software is embedded—or hard-wired—onto a microprocessor that cannot be reprogrammed. If someone tries to pry open the machine, it automatically shuts down. After much testing, India adopted the machines for nationwide use this year.

Unlike the machines used in the United States, the Indian machines are not networked. Each one has to be physically carried to a central counting center. This takes more time, of course, but reduces the opportunities for mischief. Someone who wanted to throw the election would have to fiddle with thousands of machines, one at a time.

Tampering with each machine is what some computer scientists call “retail fraud.” “Wholesale fraud” is when someone rigs the software from the outset or meddles with hundreds of machines at a central tabulation center. Both types of fraud are troublesome, of course, but to different degrees. The Indian machines are vulnerable to retail fraud but, because of the basic design, are much less subject to wholesale fraud.

American machines, by contrast, may be vulnerable to wholesale fraud. Our machines are far more complicated and expensive—$3,000 versus $200 for an Indian machine. The U.S. voting machines are loaded with Windows operating systems, encryption, touch screens, backup servers, voice-guidance systems, modems, PCMCIA storage cards, etc. They have millions of lines of code; the Indian machines hardly any at all. Why do the U.S. machines have so many more bells and whistles than those in India? One reason is that we can. For us, the cost of electronics is largely irrelevant (thank you, Chinese workers). This explains why your DVD player has more features than a 747. But there’s another reason why the U.S. voting machines are so complex. They are designed to satisfy many different customers—the disabled, for instance. India has a central election authority, while in the United States, manufacturers have to design machines to satisfy 50 different sets of state rules. All of this adds up to more complexity and therefore a greater chance that something could go wrong—either intentionally or by accident.

So, might the Indian way work in the United States? Yes and no. The Indian machines are not designed to handle the large number of candidates that appear on a typical U.S. ballot, though this could be fixed without too much difficulty.

There’s another hurdle, what Carnegie Mellon professor Michael Shamos calls “technological chauvinism.”

“Except for Japanese cameras and German cars, we believe there’s nothing high-tech made outside the U.S. that’s worth importing,” he says. Certainly not from an impoverished nation like India. True, given the rise of the Indian software industry, that prejudice may be waning, but any American politician who suggested adopting Indian voting machines would probably be accused of outsourcing our democracy.

Also, the Indian machines are far from perfect. They don’t provide a “paper trail,” which some computer-voting experts consider essential. (Many American e-voting machines, too, fail to provide a paper trail.) The Indian machines malfunctioned at 1,800 voting booths (out of 1 million), and voters needed to cast their ballots again. There was still violence in the electronic election, though far less than in previous ones.

India’s Supreme Court chose not to rule on a complaint filed by a computer scientist, concerned that the machines were not as “tamper-proof” as the government claimed. One critic, Frederick Noronha, worries that the government-run companies that manufacture the voting machines refuse to make the source code publicly available. “Abuse is possible merely because nobody quite understands how they work, apart from a handful of officials,” says Nornonha.

A voting system, whether Indian or American, is only as honest as the officials running it. In other words, computers don’t kill elections. People do. A well-designed machine can only minimize the chances for cheating, not eliminate them.

So, we seek solace in layer upon layer of technology. The problem is that each layer creates unintended consequences, plugging one hole but creating several new ones.

For whatever reason—frugality or backwardness or desire for simplicity—India has concluded that the solution is less technology, not more. Or, as the Russians might put it: Why build a million-dollar pen when a pencil will do.

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Certainly, if we have to import pens to have an election, wouldn’t we be better off if were to just use Philippine-made pencils? What is great about the Indian election machine is that it was designed and built by the Indians themselves. They made a million of them. I say, if we will spend P21 billion on this, it would be better spent on Filipino technologies rather than imported machines that would probably be useless the day after they were used in an election.

We have been buying election machines from abroad for some years now. Some of them were good only for one election. What the Comelec bought for the 2004 elections were god ones that should have been used. If they had been used then, GMA would probably have lost. End of comment.

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hvp 10.20.08)

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

Presidente Obama ng USA

Deretsahan

ni Horacio Paredes

 Noong nagsimula ang kampanya para sa paghalal ng susunod na Pangulo ng Amerika, ang tanong ng mundo’y kung sapat na ba ang pagbabago ng Amerika na maaari na nilang ihalal ang isang kandidatong  hindi puti. Ang isa kasing kandidato sa halos isang dosenang nagprisinta sa kanilang primary elections, kung saan pumipili ang bawat partido ng kanilang magiging kandidato, ay isang senador na anak ng puting Americana at Tatay na galing sa Kenya sa Africa – itim.

Kaya ang pinagtatakhan noon ay kung halimbawa’t si Senador Barrack Obama ang mapili ng Democratic Party, may pag-asa ba siyang manalo bilang Pangulo ng Amerika?

Ngayong 16 na araw na lamang bago bumoto ang Amerika, nagunguna si Obama sa mga botante ng Amerika – 56 na porsiyento ang nagkakagusto sa kanya at 39 porsiyento ang nagkakagusto sa kaniyang katunggali na si John McCain, isang dating sundalo na nakulong ng mga Viet Cong noong giyera ng Amerika sa Vietnam.

Hindi lamang iyon. Iba ang halalan sa Amerika at dito. Sa atin, ang bawat boto’y mahalaga. Sa kanila, ang binibilang na boto ay ang boto ng buong State. Halimbawa, kung sino ang mananalo sa isang State (halimbawa, California) ito ang kukuha ng lahat na electoral votes ng California, 55 na electoral votes; sumusunod ang Texas na mayroong 34. Ang buong Amerika’y mayroong 538 na electoral votes at California ang State na pinakamarami ang electoral votes. Ang kukuha ng sobra sa kalahati ng 537 ay panalo na at siya ang magiging Pangulo ng Amerika.

Noong huling nanalo si George W. Bush kay John Kerry, ang boto ni Bush ay 286 at ang kay Kerry ay 251.

Pagkatapos napanalo ni Obama ang Democratic Primary, ang kaniyang kampaniya’y gumamit ng mga hindi pa nagagamit na mga paraan sa kumpaniya. Halimbawa, noong kaniyang napili ang kaniyang Bise Presidente, tinext niya ang lahat ng kaniyang sobra sa milyon na mga supporter sa bung Amerika. Ginamit rin niya ang Internet upang magpakilala sa mga mas mga batang botante.

Halimbawa, sa mga Hudeong Americano, ang ginawa ng kumpaniya ni Obama ay ang kinausap ang mga batang Hudeo upang kumbinsihin ang kanilang mga magulang at mga lolo’t lola na iboto si Obama. Karamihan kasi ng mga American Jew ay wala man lamang nakilalang Black American sa buong buhay nila. Hindi naman sa ayaw nila sa mga Black kundi wala lamang silang nalalaman tungkol sa mga ito.

Napag-isipan at napag-planohan ni Obama kung papaano siya mananalo at halos natitiyak na nga na siya nga ang mananalo Pagdating Nobiyembre 4.

Ang isa pa ring nakakagulat sa kanila ay sa kinabukasan ng Nob. 4 – Nob. 5 – malalaman na ng Amerika kung sino ang nagwagi sa kanilang halalan. Hindi kagaya rito na inaabot ng buwan bago maproklama ang nanalo sa ating halalan.

Ano man ang mangyari, napakita ng America na pantay-pantay silang lahat – na khait na kung anumang kulay ang iyong balat ay pantay lamang ang pananaw ng mga botante sa bawat kandidato.

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hvp (10.20.08)

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

President Obama!

Senator John McCain ran a campaign that looked as if, in the words of one analyst, it was managed by  Curly, Larry and Moe.

by Ducky Paredes

 

It is 16 days before the United States of America chooses its President who will preside over the affairs of the USA and (because it is the only superpower left) the world.

When the campaign began almost a year ago, the question that came to everyone’s mind was whether America had finally lost its racial  bias and would consider all candidates, regardless of race or color, as possible Presidents; or would there be a resurgence of racial discrimination? Would a black candidate prove to be a wedge driven into the racial mix that would effectively divide the races once again? Would there be return to race discrimination and a return, on the side of the discriminated, to black power?

Now, looking back, those fears seem overstated; the world now sees an  America that has completely outgrown its ugly years. No matter what happens to Brrack Obama and John McCain, it is clear that any person of any race or color who is a natural-born American has as much of a chance as any other American to become president.

 One reason that this has happened is that Senator Barrack Obama is a singularly driven man who set out to make his dream of becoming president come true and who planned his campaign coolly and competently.

The other reason is that Senator John McCain ran a campaign that looked as if, in the words of one analyst, it was managed by  Curly, Larry and Moe. McCain missed a lot of chances to push his agenda, got lost in the intricacies of the problems facing the United States and, basically, flubbed his chances. Obama’s campaign hardly erred.

This sows that Obama is actually a better manager and has a better eye for staff that can do the job than does McCain.

Two months ago, they were virtually tied. As each day passed (and the financial crisis sank into the minds and lives of American voters), McCain steadily lost ground so that with two weeks to go, he is in real danger of losing the election, if he has not already done so.

Their election in the U.S. is different from ours. Philippine elections for the presidency are won by the person who takes the most number of votes nationwide. This is called the popular vote. While the popular vote also applies to the U.S., this is applied on a state-by-state basis. And not all states are equal.

There are 538 electoral votes. They elect those who will represent the state in the Electoral College which, in turn, counts the number of electoral vote totals of the candidates.  The one with the higher number of electoral votes wins the election. California has the highest number of electoral votes at 55. Texas is second at 34.

Because of the way that the electoral college has been set up, a person who takes the majority in the popular vote nationwide can still lose the election  because the electoral votes went the other way as in 1998 when Al Gore had more total popular votes but George W. Bush had the electoral votes.

One reason why Obama will win is that he planned his campaign with the idea of capturing the electoral votes rather than the popular vote. This is the way that he beat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primaries. She captured more of he popular vote but Obama took the electoral votes. This is again how he will beat McCain although Obama could also win the popular vote.

Obama has used the internet more effectively than any other candidate. For instance, when he chose his vice president – Senator Joe Biden – he announced this to his faithful with over a million text messages from Obama to everyone who had worked on his campaign.  Think on that.

Contrast this to McCain who admits to little knowledge of the internet and computers.

To see how Obama did it on a state-by-state basis, let us look at the “schlep” campaign. “Schlep” is the Yiddish word meaning to pull, yank or tug.

The fact is that most Jews are better-educated and richer than the average American. In Florida, for instance, where Bush beat Gore by a hair and with all of Florida’s 27 electoral votes, sealed the election, there are an estimated 650,000 mostly retired Jewish voters. For many of them, voting for an African-American is an impossibility. They would just never even think about it. It is not a question of race. Most Jews have simply never known anyone who was African-American.

But, that applies to the older generation; the present generation of younger Jewsrelate with everyone – even blacks.

The idea behind the Great Schlep was that young, Jewish Democrats would flood Florida and convince their elders that voting for Obama was OK. This was the plan that will probably deliver Florida to the Obama camp.

Obama will win because he his path to the winner’s circle well. At this point in the campaign, Obama looks like this is a campaign  that is for him to lose. Let us hope he does not.  Obama will give America a face that the rest of the world can better relate to.  After all, there are more people of color (different hues) in this world than there are whites.

* * *

Pinoy internet users can help make their country better known to the world and the Internet by downloading the application called Google Map Maker. This  was launched in the country by regional executives of Google two weeks ago in a Makati hotel.

Google, which provides maps of many countries and cities and towns say that “no good base line maps exist” for the Philippines.

Jason Chuck, Google product marketing manager for Asia Pacific, said in a presentation that the application is aimed at solving the lack of up-to-date local maps.

“Google Map Maker is leveraging the knowledge of local experts found in every neighborhood and in every town and city. Since the map data is collected from people who have firsthand knowledge of the area, the information becomes more meaningful and relevant to users,” said Chuck.

The new tool is expected to augment the company’s Google Maps and Google Earth, which can provide satellite images of the Philippines but without the street names and useful information that a tourist or investor needs in navigating the country’s largely unmapped topography.

Information generated through Google Map Maker can be integrated in Google Maps once validation has been done.

All you need to do is download the software, then you can tell the world where you used to play tumbang-preso, where the girl you loved to eatch walking her way to school lived and where the eating is good in your neighborhood.

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hvp 10.19.08)

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Panay Politics

“(T)he coal plant’s location is on the outskirts of the city along a coastal area at the end of Barangay Ingore, La Paz which is not overly populated as claimed by the governors.”

by Ducky Paredes

 La Paz District is where the Central Philippine University, the old Domestic Airport, the Panay Power Plant, the International Port terminal and a Gaisano Mall are located. This is also where a new coal plant serving all of Panay Island will be located.

Gov. Sally Perez Chair of Antique, the Regional Development Council of Reg. 6, Gov. Carlito Marquez of Aklan, Gov. Victor Tanco Sr. of Capiz, Gov. Isidro Zayco of Negros Occidental, and Gov. Felipe Hilan Nava of Guimaras are asking for the withdrawal of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last month to the Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC): “We are disturbed by the approval of the ECC. As leaders of the family of provinces in Region 6, we are morally obliged to present this sentiment in behalf of our constituents. We strongly petition the national leadership to recall and revoke the ECC.”

The governors say that they are not totally  against coal-fired power plants “as we do recognize the need for power to bolster economic opportunities. ” But, they say that the plant site is in a thickly-populated city; thus, this puts at risk the health and lives not only of the residents of Iloilo City but also of the thousands of their own provincial constituents who are in the city either as students or workers.

Iloilo residents, point out, however, that the coal plant’s location is on the outskirts of the city along a coastal area at the end of Barangay Ingore, La Paz which is not overly populated as claimed by the governors. It is also far from the city proper where most students and workers reside.

DENR Secretary Lito Atienza adds that the proponent had met all the necessary requirements, including those on health and environmental issues, prompting the issuance of the ECC last September 1, 2008. Atienza stresses that the ECC stays unless there is a flagrant violation of the permit.

Atienza also points out that the governors should also look at the power shortage in Iloilo and consider the power needs not only of Iloilo but the whole of Panay Island as well.

Coal power is widely used in the Americas, Europe and Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China, adding that these countries are not solely dependent on fossil fuel for its power needs.

Iloilo Governor Neil Tupas is the only governor on Panay who gives his full support to the coal-fired power plant.

While Tupas respects the move of the governors against the ECC of the coal-fired power plant, but points out that he is looking into the future benefits of Iloilo having additional power supply.

The governor said the province has a new and modern airport of international standards, but having frequent power brownouts would not attract investors to come in.

* * *

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco looks like he is doing battle with the windmills when he asks the Supreme Court to return child murderer Claudio Teehankee, Jr. to the National Penitentiary.

Francisco was one of the private prosecutors who represented the families of Teehankee’s victims during the trial 15 years ago.

Teehankee was sentenced to two life terms in 1995 for the thrill-killing of Roland John Chapman and 16-year old Swedish-Filipino Maureen Hultman. He was also sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison for the frustrated murder of Jussi Leino, who was the principal witness against Teehankee.

Everyone in the government says that the President’s power to pardon and forgive is absolute. She need not abide by any rules or consult anyone. (I agree but point out that her being given that absolute power also presumes that the President can call on her innate wisdom before using that power. What happens when the dispenser is bereft of wisdom?)

Francisco says that the Penitentiary officials recommended the grant of executive clemency and commutation of sentence of Teehankee even if, under their own rules, he did not qualify for commutation of sentence.

The DOJ and the BPP failed to comply with their own guidelines for recommending executive clemency for Teehankee. There was absolutely nothing to show that the grant of executive clemency was with the objective of “preventing a miscarriage of justice or correcting a manifest injustice.”

Secretary Gonzales also failed to give the required notices to the convicting trial judge, the private and/or public prosecuting lawyers and the offended parties.

According to Francisco, the respondents also failed to comply with the required publication in a newspaper of national circulation of the names of prisoners being considered for executive clemency in order to give the public the opportunity to file written objections.

Besides, Teehankee still had  to settle the civil aspect of his sentence with respect to Chapman in the amount of P2.05 million and Leino in the amount of P4.14 million and $55,600. So, how could he be given executive clemency when, in fact, he had not yet done for his victims what the Court had ordered him to do.

* * *

The excuse that the PNP General caught with more money (P7.5 million in euros) than he is allowed to take out of Russia was carrying official money that had been advanced for the trip falls flat.

No part of that money could be the per diem given the other police officers on the trip. That had already been given to them as soon as they left Manila. Neither could this be for their airfare or their pre-departure requirements for visas and other things; nor could this be for their hotel bills since their hotel rooms had already been properly paid, else how cold they leave Russia?

That has to be private money. I do not know how smart Russia’s port people are; if they are as sharp as the agents of the former Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty (KGB), I doubt if a Pinoy police general who is hiding anything can be a match for them.

Of course, I will not wish the KGB on anyone. The man, however, has embarrassed this country. Imagine getting caught with contraband at a meeting of the Interpol! He has to be dealt with as harshly as our laws will allow.

It is impossible that a police general does not know that one cannot bring huge bundles of money in  and out of countries without declaring the amount that is brought in or taken out.

Don’t just take his word for it; we owe it to the Interpol to trace the money. How much did he have when he left the country? Was it more or less than P7.5 million in euros? If more, where did he get the additional money come from? If less, where did he spend the missing funds?

Clearly, though, this was not what was officially advanced for the trip. Advances cannot possibly still be intact at the end of the trip.

Then, the general should be asked how he came to have so much money on a policeman’s salary.

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hvp 10.17.08)

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An Oppressive BIR Director

“Gandarosa is squeezing the businessmen dry. Hundreds of businessmen were forced to close down because of his unreasonable measures.”

by Ducky Paredes

 

Hopefully, there are reasonable persons in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Finance. When the businessmen of a major city undertake a united action against a regional director of the BIR, the director must be doing something that the businessmen cannot take.

Most businessmen live in fear of the taxmen, Not only should they not go out of their way to rile them, they ought to try to get on their good side. Nobody wants a tax collector as an enemy.

Sometimes, though, when the rules by which the taxman plays have become too arbitrary or the cut he takes for himself from his tax collections have become much more than the usual pound of flesh, businessmen will rebel.

This is what is happening in Cagayan de Oro City, which is considered as Mindanao’s industrial hub.  Hundreds of angry businessmen are joining protests against the regional office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The cause? A memorandum circular on tax collection, issued by bureau regional director Mustapha Gandarosa places business owners under a 15-day surveillance by the BIR to assess value-added tax (VAT) declarations even while an audit for income tax is ongoing. It also introduces new guidelines in computing annual income tax to be based on average daily sales.

CDO businessmen consider these as “oppressive measures” being implemented by Gandarosa. The local BIR is making unreasonable assessments and billings without reasonable and fair bases. The reason for this surge of activity  – at this time – is that each Christmas Season, the BIR main office tells everyone to stop all collection and inspection activities so that the crooked and dishonest amongst the BIR will not use the season to mulct the businessmen.

Expecting this, the CDO Region is having a pre-Christmas activity. Isn’t that smart?

What can the businessmen do? Many want to declare a business holiday; hundreds of establishments will close shop, a move that could bring millions of pesos in losses to CDO’s economy.

Northern Mindanao hosts large multinational corporations, such as Del Monte and Nestlé, and is home to vast economic zones, such as the Phividec estate.

The region has posted the third highest revenue tax collection for the past two years, which businessmen see as their proof that they are good taxpayers.

Rodolfo Meñes, president of the Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry and spokesperson of the newly formed coalition of businessmen in Northern Mindanao says: “We are now pinned to the wall and we are given no other option but to fight back. He is squeezing the businessmen dry. Hundreds of businessmen were forced to close down because of his unreasonable measures.”

The businessmen say the Region issues mission orders (MOs) on a whim and that the assessments and billings that the regional office hands out do not have any clear bases.

Several small entrepreneurs complain that tax collectors constantly harass them.

A middling grocery owner says that he is being harassed to pay P30 million in taxes for 2007. One wonders if he even made that kind of money from his establishment.

Who can they talk to in the presently headless BIR to save Cagayan de Oro from this greedy Godzilla?

* * *

We have a letter from someone who requests anonymity: “There is need for civility, decorum and respect among peers in any collegial deliberative body, and this is just as true in legislative bodies. All over the world they have their respective parliamentary procedures, including here in the Philippines.

“Basic in parliamentary rules is to show respect to fellow parliamentarians. This is manifested by courteous language, and certainly by refraining from casting aspersions or with false and injurious charges on the good name or integrity of a member of the Legislature while it’s in session. Such an unparliamentary conduct by any member is subject to censure.

“Senator Panfilo Lacson not only questioned the integrity of the Senate, he also  impugned the character of a fellow solon. He is the one who should be investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee. And the same holds true in the case of Senator Jamby Madrigal.

“Ironically, they are the ones charging their victim before the Senate Ethics Committee.

“Is it not a principle of fair play that only he or she with clean hands should have the moral ascendancy to seek relief in any form with the authority to pass judgment?

“Did Senate President Villar commit the kind of unparliamentary act that Lacson displayed in the august hall of the Senate? Wasn’t Villar the one subjected to verbal abuse by Lacson and Madrigal who both took refuge in the protective shield of that much-abused privilege of parliamentary immunity?

“Where’s the logic in the violators of parliamentary conduct being the accusers in the Senate Ethics Committee?

“Or, may it not be assumed that Lacson and Madrigal are only after publicity mileage at Villar’s expense?”

* * *

I believe that the fact that this particular deadly duo in the Senate are only after publicity cannot only be assumed, it is also presumed. They are ambitious. One wanted to be president so much that, realizing he could not be President, he caused the loss of the main opposition candidate in 2004; the other disrespected her aunt by fighting her will and not allowing the aunt to have what she wanted in death. And, for both — all for money!

Should the Senate be abolished? With these kind of Senators, should we even still support the Senate?

* * *

“My sa o ne ‘iada, aby n’m poskytli relevantn’ dokumenty. Pati ces t’mu ng kung bakt’ zachovan’ ces P3.401m na Hind?ina binayad sa kabuuang P48.180m [dokumenty] sa projekt profilu maliwanag ces z’stancom si Sena Villar na Rep Villar. Na ces zd’vodnenie ng DPWH bakit nagkaroon ng zarovnanie dahili sledova? zamestnanca ng ng z’stancom si Sena A Rep

“Villar, tak ces tanong doon bakit? Lumalabas sa dokumentong hawak Ob?as, maraming nehnute?nosti na dinaanan ng presmerovan. na nov’ daan ayon sa panibagong pl’nu rozvoja.” – Part of a Press Release that, according to the Tribune, was sent to them by Sen. Ping Lacson’s office when the Tribune (whom Lacson accuses of being pro-Villar) asked Lacson for a copy of their latest. This is the latest gobbledygook from the senator!

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hvp 10.16.08)

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A Shakedown in Progress

“My unsolicited advice to Rep. Plaza is to examine these facts and  immediately distance himself from this troika of greed.”

by Ducky Paredes

Rep. Rodolfo Plaza is a congressman who does his job and wants only to do well; Ompong may not be fully aware that he is being used in a shakedown operation by a female reporter who had been fired by a major daily and her husband, a self-proclaimed publicist.

Congressman Plaza filed a bill seeking the repeal of the franchise granted 25 years ago to what is now a leading radio station in Luzon broadcasting from the province of Pampanga.

Among the reasons cited by the solon in seeking the repeal was the alleged impropriety of a new investor coming into the radio station. This is debunked by another congressman — the very author of the Republic Act (RA) which granted the franchise.

But the real reason for the attack on radio station GV Broadcasting System and its new investor goes much deeper than that.

It has to do with the reporter’s demand for the new investor to pay her  several millions for the role she supposedly played in facilitating the investor’s entry into GV Broadcasting.

The reporter (with a colorful past) was not paid for the simple reason that the services she allegedly “provided” the investor exists only in her mind. Having been refused her unfounded demands, she threatened the investor that she would use all of her congressional contacts to exact revenge.

It is ironic that the investor had even provided work to the husband out of sheer generosity as his labor was actually neither sought nor needed. When the investor asked the husband to knock some sense into his wife, the husband replied that he cannot rein in his wife.

Then came the repeal bill authored by Rep. Plaza. The congressman may want to know that copies of his bill had been sent by a former senator-cum-labor leader to various foreign companies to convince them not to do business with GV Broadcasting.

The ex-senator is an uncle of the journalist’s husband. They share the same surname.

Among the recipients of the ex-senator’s letters warning them about the repeal move in Congress against GV Broadcasting were:

Chase Carey, president and chief executive officer of US satellite broadcasting firm Direct TV Group, Inc. based in El Segundo, California; Charles Ergen, chairman, president and CEO of another US broadcast giant DISH Network Corp.; and Robert Bednarek, president and CEO of SES New Skies, a Danish company.

Included in the letters were copies of Plaza’s HB 5028, which seeks to repeal RA 8169, which granted GV Broadcasting its franchise; and RA 8591, which amended it.

The fact that the ex-senator, who is the uncle of the publicist (also fired by another solon for sheer incompetence) of the greedy conjugal twin, has been undertaking a demolition job on GV Broadcasting with foreign companies as target audience should leave no doubt as to what motivates the trio. He has also been sending off press releases attacking the new investor on another matter. This makes the ex-senator a main player in the shakedown operation!

My unsolicited advice to Rep. Plaza is to examine these facts and  immediately distance himself from this troika of greed before he is perceived as a witting party to the shakedown. It would do well for him to withdraw his repeal bill, which according to Rep. Carmelo Lazatin was without any basis.

Lazatin gives Plaza the benefit of the doubt: “I believe that my colleague, Rep. Plaza, was provided with false and malicious information by a group of people as part of an ongoing effort to discredit GV Broadcasting and its shareholders.”

Representing the 1st district of Pampanga where GV Broadcasting operates, Lazatin brushed aside the claim that the entry of the new investor into the radio violated its franchise.

On the contrary, Lazatin points out that Section 10 of GV’s franchise specifically encouraged it to seek new investors when it says: “The issuance of shares to any investor pursuant to or in connection with any increase in grantee’s authorized capital stock which shall result in the dilution of the stockholdings of the grantee’s then existing stockholders.”

 Lazatin should know the provisions of GV’s franchise since he authored RA 8169 and can vouch for the integrity of GV’s founding investors, knowing them as his constituents and as respected entrepreneurs in Pampanga.

In fact, Lazatin said he encouraged GV to seek new investors when its shareholders told him of their desire to seek new capital to be able to take a slice of the market for emerging broadcast technologies.

GV Broadcasting System has been operating for 25 years and now the top radio stations in Pampanga and Batangas, namely DWGV 99.1 MHZ, DWGV 792 Khz and DZGV 99.9 Mhz.

Imagine the howl of protest from Kapampangans and Batangueños if these top-drawing stations would be forced out of the air just because the reporter wanted a P50-million windfall without betting on the lotto. It would be akin to shutting down dzRH, the only station that can boast of a nationwide broadcast from just one microphone; something unthinkable.

For more than two decades now, the GV radio stations have been providing jobs, local and national government revenues and public service through news reports and entertainment.

 According to Lazatin, both the original and amended franchise of GV Broadcasting had been thoroughly scrutinized by Congress, thus their grant to the company. Now, will a motley crew motivated by multi-million reasons be allowed to make a mockery of Congress and to destroy the media institutions that are the DWGV radio stations.

Pure unmitigated, conjugal greed is at the bottom of this issue.

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hvp 10.15.08)

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Huwag Bigyang Kulay ang Korte

Deretsahan

ni Horacio Paredes 

Sa paglabas ng desisyon ng Korte Suprema na labag sa Saligang Batas ang MOA o ang kasunduan magtatayo ang MILF ng kanilang Ancestral Domain, ang Madalas na nagiging komentaryo ay tungkol sa kung hawak pa ba o hindi na ni Gloria Arroyo ang Korte.

Sa pananaw ko’y hindi dapat na ganito ang dapat na pag-iisip natin – na lahat na lamang nga bagay ay maituturing na pulitikal — na pag-kampi o pag-kontra kay Gloria Arroyo.

Ang Korte Suprema’y dapat na hiwalay at malayo sa mga bagay na pulitika. Dapat na independiyente ito; kaya lamang nagmumukhang may bahid ng pulitika ang kanilang mga hatol ay dahil sa ating sistema na ang Pangulo ang bumpily sa mga justice ng Korte. Dapat siguro na sa susunod na pamahalaan ay inaasahan ng magiging Pangulo ang kaniyang pagpili ng mga hukom ng Korte at iwas na magkaroon ng kahit na kaunti lamang na bahid ng pulitika. Kung pati kasi ang Korte Suprema’y sunod-sunuran sa Pangulo, papaano na ang ating bansa. Ang Pangulo na nga ang pinaka mayroong kapangyarihan, magpapapailalim pa ang Korte sa kaniya?

* * *

Sulat galing kay Francisco Almonte: “May katuwiran kayo magsulat tungkol kay Secretary Gonzales ng DOJ tungkol sa huli niyang sinabi.  Pero kung matandaan ninyo na si G. Hultman ang unang nagsalita na si Sec. Gonzales ay liar at iba pang akusasyon sa pagkasabi niya na alam ng mag-asawang Hultman ang paglaya ni Teehankee.

“Dito siguro napikon si Gonzales at binuweltahan niya ang mga Hultman sa pagsasalita nang di maganda bilang Pilipino. Di mo rin masisi si Sec. dahil karapatan niya na idepensa ang sarili bilang  miyembro ng gabinete at bilang isang tao na di siya snuggling.

“Itong pangyayari ay isang incident ng di pagkaunawaan na pinalake ng media para mabili ng publiko ang mga diyaryo at makining at mapanood sa TV news.

“Kung talagang ayaw natin magpatawad, ibalik natin ang parusa death penalty para yung mga nanagrabiyado ay mabitay na at mawala na sa mundo. Pero may kasabihan na kung di mo pa oras, tiyak na maisasalba ka pa rin. Ang kabutihan kay Sec. ay sinasabi niya ang nasa loob niya, di siya plastic. Kaya dun sa magsasalita ay dapat isipin ng mabuti, kundi lagot ka. Makakarinig ka ng di maganda at mabuti.”

Ang isang miyembro ng gabinete ay dapat na mas malawak ang pananaw – hindi makitid ang utak. At, lalong, hindi siya dapat pikon! Hindi ba niya kayang intindihin ang nararamdamang ng isang magulang sa pagpalaya ng pumatay sa kaniyang anak na para itong isa lamang halaman na pinatay dahil sa sagabal sa pumatay nito?

Dapat naman na ang mga pinagkakatiwalaan ng bansa at ng Pangulo ay ang pinaka magagaling sa atin; hindi ang pinakawalan dating na mga Pinoy.

Kung kagaya lamang ni Gonzales ang ating mga gabinete, ano naman ang bansa na kanilang pinaglilingkuran? Dapat na mas maganda ang pinakikita nilang asal kaysa sa mga butangero at mga pangkaraniwang mamamayan.

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hvp (10.01.08)

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