Perspective

25 Jan 2007

Rowena V. Guanzon

Political dynasty

For once I agree with former Senator Kit Tatad, who was Ferdinand Marcos’ Minister of Information in his younger and more powerful days. Kit Tatad has publicly denounced the United Opposition’s move to field Allan Cayetano, Koko Pimentel and JV Ejercito as senatorial bets. Congressman Allan Cayetano is brother to Senator Pia Cayetano, Koko (who lost when he ran for mayor of Cagayan de Oro City) is the son of Nene Pimentel , and JV Ejercito is Joseph Estrada’s son with businesswoman Guia G. Gomez from Bacolod. I do not know if Senator Pia Cayetano agrees with this idea, but she is an independent person, has a mind and beliefs of her own and her younger brother cannot influence her vote. But if they win, there will be six members of the Senate who are immediate family members. The Senate did have at one time both John and Serge Osmena, but they are first cousins.

The constitution prohibits political dynasties, but since there is no law regulating these, strictly speaking there is no obstacle for these candidates and their families to indulge in their campaign spree. But Kit Tatad is right, if they pursue their plan,that means that about one-fourth of the Senate will be occupied by father, son and siblings, and what does that mean for our democracy? It is easy enough for congressmen or senators to influence each other’s vote even if they are not related as long as they have the same interests to protect. What more if they are from the same “house,” and closely-knit families?

The irony of it is that this plan is coming from the opposition, which is supposed to be the people’s balancer of interests in Congress. They should have had more sensitivity to the people’s intelligence and the principles of democracy that they say they also stand on instead of throwing this idea or plan without concern for its meaning and consequences. Yes, political parties’ main objective is to win, but do they have to do this? Surely there are other equally good candidates who can win.

The opposition has computed its votes and probably decided that since they have the same political base (which may have increased) it is better to hit two birds with one stone, or rather, six senators with three candidates. This plan shows how immature our political parties can get, and I am not just saying it is always the opposition that commits blunders like these. Instead of reducing Congress into a family affair, the party gate-keepers and leaders should build stronger political parties based on principles and track record. Unfortunately, these political leaders know very well that the voters have not reached that level of maturity either, so they might as well do what they want. Given the voting pattern of Filipinos, who vote based on personal ties, name recall or showbiz appeal instead of principles, I would not be surprised if at least two out of three of these potential candidates will actually win.

Rowena V. Guanzon is blogging at http://www.bingguanzon.com/

]]> http://www.bingguanzon.com/132/political-dynasty-of-the-opposition/feed 0 http://www.bingguanzon.com/131/was-that-necessary http://www.bingguanzon.com/131/was-that-necessary#comments Wed, 17 Jan 2007 23:49:42 +0000 Bing http://www.bingguanzon.com/131/was-that-necessary 7 Am Jan. 18, 2007

Last night I saw on television how Junjun Tupas, son of Iloilo Gov. Neil Tupas and Board Member of the province, was pushed around by policemen in fatigues. Worse, they pointed their M16 rifles at him and his companions. Junjun was later seen waving a piece of paper, a Temporary Restraining Order from the Court of Appeals, which stays the order of Ombudsman dismissing Gov. Tupas allegedly for graft and corruption. The DILG Secretary ordered the Governor to vacate their posts.

Aside from Tupas, the others who were dismissed or suspended were Gov. Armand Sanchez of Batangas (suspended) and Mayor Pewee Trinidad of Pasay (dismissed). Tupas is a known ally of opposition senator Franklin M. Drilon of Iloilo. Trinidad is also with the opposition. Sanchez is with the administration, but GMA is distancing herself from him because he is allegedly linked to illegal gambling operations in his province.

The timing is suspicious, because the election period has started. This will practically make it difficult or impossible for these officials to run for office.

In Iloilo, was it really necessary for the police to treat civilians that way? Especially that they were public officials? The police officers threatened those poor fellows with M16 rifles as if they were terrorists or as if they were armed, and they were not. The DILG Secretary must discipline those policemen.

The administration is showing its might. And we have seen what it can do in these supposedly democratic times. It is scary to think what the military and the police are capable of when the administration is given emergency powers.

One test of the people’s reaction to these events is the coming elections in Iloilo and Pasay. These events are but a prelude of how violent our elections can get, not because the candidates will be at odds, but because the police and the military could be trigger happy.

This is an article that took almost five years to make. It was a promise to then Secretary of National Defense (SND) Angelo Reyes after one of the many trips we took in the field, interacting with field workers of government and the men and women in uniform. I told him that I am discovering sides of the military that many people do not know, especially those of us who come from civil society.

I was a student of the First Quarter Storm ( a member of the UP Student Catholic Action, a clerico-fascist according to some) and was in UP at the onset of Martial law. I have always distrusted the military. I have friends who were tortured, some killed, during that period. There was great discomfort in having to work with them at close range, like riding the Huey choppers while responding to disaster work or walking side by side with them in the hinterlands of Mindanao.

However, it was in these trips that I met the men and women in uniform. I saw their world from their perspective. Many of them are committed to service and really go the extra mile to finish the mission they have been given. While they are combatants, they also do development work. I met officers who were teaching the communities of the former camp Abubakar, running literacy classes. There were livelihood programs that were funded by the men and women in uniform; income generating activities that they were sharing and teaching the people who distrusted them in the beginning. They rebuilt houses and repaired mosques after the cessation of hostilities. The core shelter houses of the victims of displacement were undertaken at record speed. They walked the long kilometers to reach the people who got isolated because of floods and landslides. They are witnesses, if not companions, of the poverty of the people in the rural areas.

They executed these programs with the precision that they used with warfare. The officers were intelligent and had rigorous training not only from the Philippine Military Academy but also from other academic institutions, such as Asian Institute of Management , Wharton School of Business, and Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. They also knew how to entertain themselves. Most officers I have met know how to do a mean boogie or know how to sing with a band.

I am not romanticizing and turning a blind eye to the corruption and abuse of the men and women in uniform. The wrong doings exist and are very entrenched in the system. Thus, the reform within the military has been a work-in-progress since the first coup attempt in 1987. I have seen the soldiers in the field with meager provisions, in slippers and sleeping in foxholes; and I know about unfortunate incidents where they die because of loss of blood, due to inavailability of supply in the area of operation. The corruption of the officers are known to the men and women in uniform because they see it happen before their eyes; they follow the system or they get out or they are killed, as some have found out too late.

Yes, there are very legitimate grievances that the men and women in uniform have been harboring and struggling to change. But one of the most serious issues is the patronage system inside, which has a strong bearing on promotions and the upward mobility of the men and women in uniform. This system of promotion, where the politicians have a strong hand in the decision making process and the “bata-bata” system inside the organization, is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the professionalization of the military. I have been given scraps of paper as I leave an area in Mindanao (several times) by soldiers with their names and rank and a request to put in a good word for them so that they can get promoted. I did not know what to do with those names and their requests; I decided to write a letter of thank-you for the services done during our visit to their commanding officer. I thought it was a small favor for the work they are doing for all of us; but then it also lent itself to the “palakasan system.” To get promoted, the officers have to engage in a political process with politicians, especially the Commission on Appointments.

But the gravest politization of the military in current times is their involvement in the elections of 2004. As narrated by Gen. Gudani and Col. Balutan, there were efforts to manipulate the election through the cooperation of the men and women in uniform as ordered by their “higher-ups”. This was also brought out by the Garci tapes, when generals were mentioned in the conversations.

In the last ten days, there have been calls from the Secretary of National Defense to stop politicizing the military and leave them alone to do their jobs. I ask Sec. Cruz: who used them for elections, who got them engaged in politics, who made the revolving door policy of Chief of Staffs as a thank-you for their political support? The men and women in uniform are thinking and are not fools; this is one of the pillars of dissent: the continuing cover-up of a crime that involved a significant segment of the men and women in uniform in the manipulation of the 2004 election. There was an internal investigation by the Inspector General, then Vice Admiral M. Mayuga; where is the report and what is the result of the investigation? The public and the men and women in uniform must know; it will help in the professionalizing the institution; it will help in calming the restiveness in the military.

The events since February 24, 2006, are manifestations of the outrage of the men and women in uniform. Was there a coup attempt? It is confusing. The explanation of the plan of the men and women in uniform according to the AFP and DND and Malacanang is for them to join the rally in EDSA and withdraw support from President Gloria Macapagal –Arroyo. Is that a coup or a power grab? When the Marines said they protest the change of the commandant and call on the people to support their protest, is that a coup? On TV the government admitted that the tanks and the soldiers are theirs, those that came in from the provinces. The coup plot revelation came in after the declaration of emergency rule; recall that Gen. Senga was emphatic that there was no coup!

The alleged connivance between the NPA and some elements of the Magdalo group are hard to believe because the military are very thorough in their indoctrination that the anti-communist sentiment is very deeply rooted in the soldiers. It is ingrained in their minds that even Cabinet members like us were mentioned in a report to be sympathetic to communists. Again, is it not an insult to the training of the soldiers that they can conceive an alliance with the enemy? Or is it the story line to confuse and justify the actions of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her men?

The men and women in uniform have been trained to protect the people and the constitution. They risk life and limb in undertaking their mission. They follow a chain of command and are trained to obey, not to question and argue with their superior; the assumption is the commander carries the principles and values of honor and service to the country. Therefore it takes greater courage to question the commander if the orders and conduct of the operation goes against honor and service to the country; only brave hearts will do it.

By: Corazon Juliano-Soliman (dinky)
dinkysunflower@yahoo.com

http://new.PetitionOnline.com/resignow/petition.html
————-

To: Philippine COMELEC, Senate, Congress, Ombudsman, Solicitor-General
The undersigned organizations and individuals, including the IT practitioners who petitioned the Supreme Court in August, 2003, to nullify the contract signed by the COMELEC with Mega Pacific eSolutions, Inc., strongly support Senate Report No. 44 of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee recommending that all COMELEC Commissioners involved in the “COMELEC modernization scam”, should resign.

The COMELEC committed many sins against the Filipino people. In the bidding for Automated Counting Machines (ACMs):
• The bid specs asked for 3 years Financial Statements; but the winning bidder was only incorporated 11 days before the submission of bids; the COMELEC therefore awarded the contract for ACMs to an unqualified bidder.
• The bidder claimed they were a consortium and therefore carried the track record and financial performance of the consortium members; but considering that it was a P1.3 billion project, all they had was a verbal agreement among them!
• The bid specs asked for 99.9995% accuracy level (1 mistake in 200,000); both bidders failed. Then the COMELEC reduced that to 99.995% in midstream (1 mistake in 20,000). Changing the bid specs at the middle of the evaluation violates procurement rules. In spite of this change in specs, both bidders failed!
• The Bid and Awards Committee (BAC) should have declared a failed bidding right there and then, but no! they went on and awarded the contract to Mega Pacific.
• What’s more, the COMELEC en banc awarded the contract on April 15, 2003 … before they even received the written report from the BAC, which was only submitted to them on April 21, 2003. This clearly violates procurement rules.

Mr. Abalos cannot claim that they only made an honest mistake in awarding the contract. In May, 2003, the Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines (ITFP) sent a letter to the COMELEC recommending that they declare a failed bidding, but such recommendation was ignored. This was what prompted the ITFP and eight individuals, none of whom was a bidder, to file a Petition with the Supreme Court in August, 2003, for the nullification of the contract.

On January 13, 2004, the Supreme Court released its decision nullifying the contract and directing the Office of the Solicitor-General to exert all efforts to recover the money and the Ombudsman to “determine the criminal liability, if any, of the public officials (and conspiring private individuals, if any)” involved in the subject contract.

It has been almost two years since the Supreme Court handed down its decision, yet nothing much has happened. The COMELEC Commissioners and the members of the BAC continue to collect salaries; the COMELEC has not returned the equipment to the suppliers and has not recovered what they paid; and to add insult to injury, they continue to spend millions renting space to warehouse the equipment!

The Ombudsman has yet to elevate the case to the Sandiganbayan; and Congress has yet to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Commissioners. Unless these Commissioners are replaced, we can forget about clean and honest elections, as well as, election automation, in 2007.

Unknown to the general public, these COMELEC Commissioners committed other major sins:
• They suspended the continuous registration in January, 2003, in violation of the law (R.A. 8189) and to the disadvantage of new voters.
• They mis-allocated P1 billion meant for ACMs, to purchase data capturing machines for use in validating voters’ registration, a project that could not be completed in May, 2004, thus violating a Supreme Court ruling.
• They deceived voters by telling them that they should validate their registration, otherwise they would be put in a “watch list”.
• They mis-allocated another P300 million, meant for the purchase of ACMs, for their own illegal quick count (something that NAMFREL does for free). The Supreme Court stopped them, anyway. But they had already disbursed the P300 million by then!

In all, the COMELEC Commissioners wasted approximately P2.3 billion of taxpayer money. Perhaps erring officials of the COMELEC can only be removed through impeachment; But they can RESIGN! They should RESIGN!

That’s the only decent thing for them to do.

Corruption thrives in our country because we allow it. Corruption thrives in our country because we do not punish the criminals.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

Gutierrez’ short stint in the Department of Justice as Acting Secretary (but for many years she was undersecretary) was insignificant to women’s rights advocates, and when we have someone whose main goal is her personal career advancement, she will forever be indebted to Mike Arroyo. We have no illusion that Gutierrez can fill up even just one shoe of Simeon Marcelo.

By Rowena Guanzon

Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com)

November 15, 2005

Tame us or slay us?

IF Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would have her way, we in the media would all be her propagandists, writing only about the good things she has done without the bad, dancing to her every tune and singing halleluiah. In the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas conference in Baguio last week, she dished out her low regard for the media as “becoming a national malaise and a hindrance to development rather than a solution to our problems.”GMA, a former professor in Economics, wants to lecture all of us on her theory of the role of the media in a democratic society.No one who has occupied Malacanang has been as antagonistic as she is to the media, and her speech in Baguio has just removed all doubts about the way she regards the media as an institution that a president must tame or slay.

Coming from no less that the one who lives in Malacanang, how else can be interpret her words other than a threat to our freedom of expression?

Because they must write or speak the truth, those in the media will often be at odds with those who in power, a president especially.In fact, it is the mark of a free media when it is at odds with the powers that be. That is its indispensable function in a free society.While some in the media can be bought or co-opted, they are answerable to the law, their peers and their conscience, but is not an argument for muffling the press, or stifling the people’s right to information.I thought it was elementary that one must not shoot the messenger.

GMA regards the “Fourth Estate” as an obstacle, an enemy of development, a national malaise. She might as well have said that the reason we remain an underdeveloped country is because we have too much freedom of the press.She would have us write only the good about what her government is doing, as if by doing so investors will come in droves, and that is all that a president needs for her economic plan to prosper.It is not the Philippine media that is the reason why investors are staying away; it is the corruption from the lowest to the highest levels of government (and the First Gentleman has not been spared of this accusation) and the high cost of doing business in the Philippines.It is not the media who caused the political instability in the country; it is GMA and her loyal henchmen who did, who used everything in their power to stop the impeachment proceedings against her.

I don’t know who gave her the idea that it is the media’s role to give solutions to the country’s problems in the first place.That is her job, not ours.We are no less patriotic if we write about the government’s ills, or less intelligent because we write that the new Value Added Tax will burden the poor.

Our job is to write the TRUTH and analyzes the truth.If the truth is that this government stinks, the media has no duty to deodorize it. We are unanswerable to those who read or listen to us, who can very well tell true from false, and right from wrong.The Filipino reader and listener knows which paper she or he wants to read, what radio station, anchor person or reporter she or he wants to listen to.No one powerful person is going to tell us what to stay or what to write about, or she might as well try closing down the newspapers, radio, television stations, and the blogs.

First posted 06:25am (Mla time) Aug 16, 2005
By Rowena Guanzon
INQ7.net

THERE is a saying that “whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad with power.” In the case of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s loyal henchmen, that should be shortened by omitting the last two words. Maybe the megalomania toxins in Malacañang can really addle the brain. Add to that all the narcissism particles in the air that one can inhale or take in by osmosis even while doing the most mundane thing as trying to look intelligent, and you have Cabinet members who are no match for Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man.”

After Secretary Mike Defensor’s presentation of his revelations of the spliced tape, Malacañang is now in extreme danger of really being called a nuthouse, and his boss as a woman who is now “spliced for life.” This administration is going down in history not only as the most despised, but also as the most laughed at. It should not insult further the intelligence of the people who can see through their shenanigans. Its attempts to win back the public’s attention are hilarious,
but this latest act of Defensor is murderous. It is the blade that strikes the deathblow to the administration’s heart. After this, Mike Defensor will never be the same again.

First posted 03:18am (Mla time) Oct 25, 2005
By Rowena Guanzon
INQ7.net

I NEVER thought I would see the day when we would be quoting a law during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship to make a point, but we did on Oct. 21. Milabel Cristobal Amar, two other women lawyers and myself joined Joel Cadiz, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and his vice president Feliciano Bautista Jr. in the rally of farmers and urban poor led by Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, Bayan Muna and Gabriela. We were in the frontline of the march of about 10,000 that started in front of University of Santo Tomas (UST) and ended at the Gotesco building, a couple of blocks away from Mendiola Street.

Twenty-nine years ago, I was among the students from the University of the Philippines who were hit with a water cannon and nearly beaten up by a truncheon-wielding anti-riot squad. Last Friday, standing for hours near Gotesco because the police stopped us from marching to Mendiola, the irony did not escape me that we were using a Marcos law to insist on our right to assemble

and rally against the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Before the march could begin, police officers approached to inform us that we had no permit, and seeing that there were lawyers from the IBP, sent a police superintendent who is also a lawyer. Cadiz informed him that by operation of law, we were deemed granted a permit to rally in Mendiola, pointing to a provision in Batas Pambansa (BP) 880 that states: “The mayor or any official acting in his behalf shall act on the application within two (2) working days from the date the application was filed, failing which, the permit shall be deemed granted. Should for any reason the mayor or any official acting in his behalf refuse to accept the application for a permit, said application shall be posted by the applicant on the premises of the office of the mayor and shall be deemed to have been filed.”

BP 880 was enacted in the last months of the Marcos dictatorship, on Oct. 22, 1985. After 13 years of suppressing the people’s rights to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances, Marcos’ stamping-pad legislature passed a law that was “better late than never,” and which the citizens have to rely on to this day, until repealed.

While the negotiators insisted on our right to proceed to Mendiola, the police superintendent agreed that the next negotiation be done in Liwasang Bonifacio, the plaza near downtown Manila for which he said the rallyists had a permit from Mayor Lito Atienza. The march proceeded until stopped by an anti-riot squad near Gotesco. The first two rows of the police were composed of rookie policewomen, who displayed discipline. Behind them were policemen, and about 6 paces away, a fire truck.

BP 880 requires the police to use “maximum tolerance,” the highest degree of restraint. Hence, Gloria Arroyo’s “calibrated preemptive response” (CPR) is clearly illegal. Separated from the anti-riot squad only by their shields, I analyzed the situation. CPR depends entirely on the judgment of the commanding officer, without complying with the provision in BP 880 that law enforcers may not use water cannons or similar anti-riot devise unless there is actual violence or serious threats or violence or deliberate destruction of property.

CPR means the anti-riot squad can advance or hit the rallyists even if there is no actual violence from the rallyists — hence the word “preemptive.” Under BP 880, law enforcers must be at least 100 meters away from the area of activity. This is not followed under the Arroyo administration. The policewoman nearest me was six inches from my nose.

Because of her single-minded focus on staying in power, Arroyo is turning this country into a police state.

Although its constitutionality is doubtful because it impinges on the people’s right to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances, BP 880, until repealed or declared unconstitutional, is the law that governs rallies or assemblies in public places. Mayor Atienza and his legal officer, as well as other mayors should study this law intently so they will realize their error last Friday. The facts and the law are as follows.

The rallyists had applied for a permit for an Oct. 21 rally in Mendiola. The office of Mayor Atienza received the application on Oct. 11. Instead of acting on it within two days as required under BP 880, the mayor issued a permit with modified conditions on Oct. 20, a day before the rally, allowing use of Liwasang Bonifacio and not Mendiola. He also set ridiculous conditions, such as that “the Anti-Noise and Anti-Littering Ordinances of the City of Manila shall not be violated” and that there be “no motorcade nor marching from any point to Liwasang Bonifacio.” Did the honorable mayor expect us to fly to Liwasang Bonifacio?

Not content with that, the permit stated that it could be revoked at any time without prior notice from the Office of the Mayor! Gerino Tolentino Jr., who signed for the mayor, is either ignorant of the law or did not study it. By law, the mayor should have acted on the application for a permit within two days. If he disapproved it or made modifications on what the rallyists could do, then the applicant could go to court to contest it, because Section 6 of BP 880 states that the mayor must issue a permit unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the public assembly will create a clear and present danger to public order, public safety, public convenience, public morals or public health.

The mayor can only deny an application or issue a permit with modified conditions, such as change the venue of the rally, if there is “imminent and grave danger of a substantive evil.” Even so, the mayor shall immediately inform the applicant, who must then be heard on the matter. All of these provisions of the law were violated by Mayor Atienza, for which he is at least administratively liable. Those who were injured by the police during the rally can also sue the City of Manila for damages.

Since Mayor Atienza acted on the application way after the two-day period allowed by law, then the applicants’ permit was “deemed granted” under BP 880. Yet, the police officers stuck to the conditions set in the unlawful permit granted by the Mayor, repeatedly saying they had to follow orders. When the law is clear, it needs no other interpretation. But the lawyer-police officers who faced the IBP lawyers last Friday must have had lost their knowledge of statutory construction the minute they donned their uniforms.

Luz sues Malacañang
October 14, 2005 @ 2:41 pm · Posted by Avigail Olarte
Filed under In the News, Governance

IN an unprecedented move, Education Undersecretary
Juan Miguel Luz filed a complaint against Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita at 2:40 p.m. today before the
Civil Service Commission (CSC), declaring his transfer
to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
illegal and a blatant disregard of his rights as a
civil servant.

“I am an educator. I’m not a labor expert,” Luz said,
“Termination is not part of the issue here. But
reassignment is basically like termination.”

Luz received his notice of transfer to the labor
department on Oct. 4. He was fired as undersecretary
last Sept. 13 with a letter from Ermita thanking him
for his services as undersecretary.

Luz was fired by the President in what seemed to be a
fallout from the DepEd’s refusal to accept thee
postdated checks, P15 million in all, that the Palace
issued for Zambales Rep. Antonio Diaz’s scholarship
program at the time when Congress was deliberating on
the impeachment complaint against the President. This
move from the Palace has raised suspicions that the
DepEd was being used to launder money for legislators
who supported President Arroyo (See the PCIJ’s report:
The President’s Gravy Train)

In the complaint, Luz’s lawyers said he was being
sacked for doing the right thing. Luz said his
integrity was put to test when he was asked to accept
the postdated checks. Luz refused the checks since
they were devoid of documentation and these were
against the government accounting and auditing rules.
Three days after refusing to honor the checks, Luz
received his termination letter.

The CSC had issued an opinion that Luz could not be
dismissed from government service because he is a
career executive service officer (CESO) and holds a
regular item in the government plantilla. The CSC said
Luz could not be removed from the position without
cause and due process: “The termination clearly did
not mention any cause or reason for termination.”

Malacañang subsequently announced that Luz had been
“terminated as undersecretary but not as CESO” and
that he will be reassigned to some other position of
the same rank.

In his complaint, Luz stated that the order of
transfer was obviously done for political reasons.
What makes it worse, his lawyers said, is that there
is no vacant position of undersecretary at the DOLE.
This places Luz on a “floating” status and is deemed
“constructively dismissed.”

His lawyers said the Palace could not turn a blind eye
to the successful reforms Luz has instituted at the
DepEd (eg. establishing the Procurement Service,
organizing the National Textbook Delivery Program,
providing direct funding releases to fiscally
autonomous high schools and school divisions) and his
overall outstanding performance.

“Quite clearly, (Luz) was removed because he was an
obstacle to the wishes of the President that she
distributes the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) with no
restrictions, even when funds are not available, hence
the postdated checks,” the complaint stated.

His lawyers said Luz is known for his sterling
qualifications and his reputation as a highly
educated, competent, and honest public servant. “No
amount of political power nor threat of punishment
should be able to intimidate civil servants into loyal
submission, blind obedience, and conspiracy to commit
unlawful acts.”

The Palace had earlier issued a statement that reports
“linking disbursements of the PSF to the impeachment
is wrong, misplaced and unfair.”

Read the full text of the complaint here.

Permalink

5 Comments »

Rizalist said,
October 14, 2005 @ 4:46 pm

PROFESSIONALISM in the government service is rare
enough. But Mr. Luz could not be more deserving of his
claim to be an EDUCATOR, for in this he teaches by the
example of courage. The combination makes him a gem in
the rough.

gagay said,
October 14, 2005 @ 5:03 pm

I admire Usec Luz for doing the right moves like
bringing his complaint to the proper court, he has
shown so much dignity & courage. He will truly bring
inspiration to a lot of people and that is whether or
not he wins this case.

Godspeed Usec Luz!

jorgec said,
October 14, 2005 @ 5:48 pm

I don’t know enough about USec Luz, but this one act
of professionalism, courage and dignity is enough; he
has my prayers and best wishes, sana he pulls this
off. Ang dami ng kabalastugan si GMA, it’s getting
harder and harder to keep track of them all.

Rizalist said,
October 14, 2005 @ 6:53 pm

Dear Jorgec,

Mike Luz was in charge of Finance at the DepEd but I
hear he was particularly interested in solving the
perennial problem of textbooks, or lack thereof.

The lack of decent instructional materials, desks,
texbooks, computers, etc. in the public schools is
often said to be because the country does not spend
enough on education and the general state of
impoverishment.

Of course, we can never spend enough on education, but
above claim is deceptive because the real problem lies
in how we allocate the budget.

Next year for example the DepEd could get up to 120
billion pesos for its annual budgetary allocation. But
94% of that will got to SALARIES and PERSONNEL
BENEFITS.

I got nothing against having lots of teachers, but
it’s a lil bit like running Fedex using 400,000
drivers with permanent lifetime contracts, but no
trucks, planes, computers or telephones!

Then we wonder why the only countries ranked lower
than the Philippines in basic elementary education
(per TIMSS) are Botswanna and Somalia.

roamee said,
October 14, 2005 @ 7:31 pm

kakaiba talaga ang pamamalakad ni gma… basta di
makakatulong sa kanya, papatalsikin niya.. eh
nagkamali siya.. matapang at malinis ang nakanti
niya.. pinapakita tuloy baho niya.. buti na lang at
meron pang mga tulad ni usec. luz.. sama na natin si
gen. gudani at col. balutan.. umpisa na talaga ng
pagbagsak ni gloria!

A TEXT MESSAGE that is going around these days goes, “Cory cannot tell a lie. Gloria cannot tell the truth. Erap [Joseph Estrada] does not know the difference.”

A few days ago, I was in stitches as I listened to Korina Sanchez read Executive Order Number 464 like it was a verse in the Bible, while calling Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “panginoong pangulo” [lord president].

We Filipinos have a way of making fun of our troubles, and we are probably are the only people in the world who, in the worst times, can still crack a joke. We are like that man who has a knife stuck in his belly and when asked, “Does it hurt?” answers, “Only when I laugh.”

We have heard all sorts of jokes, and true to the nature of Filipinos, Erap won votes with his Erap jokes. But the “revelation” of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago that she heard from a “chattering relative” of Senate President Franklin Drilon that Cory Aquino and Drilon are involved in a plot to hatch a coup d’état or to “physically remove” Gloria Arroyo by Oct. 15, is not funny. Cory Aquino plotting to murder someone? Ridiculous. Preposterous. Incredible. (E-mail me if you know of other fitting words). We have plenty of tolerance for “tsismis” [gossip] but this is one that is hard to swallow.

Miriam Santiago, also a Senator from the province of Iloilo like Franklin Drilon, is a bright lawyer and uses colorful, picturesque language. Her creativity in the use of the English language has given us enjoyment over the years. She was nearly elected president with her sharp words and no-nonsense stance, picturing herself as a graft buster, when these were a novelty to the voters. To this day, Senator Santiago maintains that Fidel Ramos cheated her of the presidency. Now they are on the same side for the defense of Gloria Arroyo, which proves that politics indeed makes strange bedfellows.

Senator Santiago’s independence is what her fans miss. Once upon a time a lot of people looked up to her as their champion as she made fun of crooks and crooked politicians. But this is one joke that will not click, and this time, people are not amused. Her statement is clearly hearsay, and coming from an illustrious alumna of the University of the Philippines and a former judge, it is obvious, even to Senator Santiago, that Senator Santiago has fired a dud. This is a serious accusation against a former president of the Republic no less, and an incumbent Senate president. But what did Miriam Santiago hope to achieve? Cloaked with parliamentary immunity, can she say whatever she wants to say against Cory Aquino and Franklin Drilon and escape censure by her peers in the Senate?

It would have ended with that, for the public is used to Senator Santiago’s frequent defense of Gloria Arroyo. But without missing a beat, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who is just to happy to get a shot at Cory Aquino again, was quick to capitalize on Santiago’s “revelation.” He has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate a “possible plot” against Gloria Arroyo, and investigate all persons involved, emphasizing that this should be done “regardless of status.” By that he means Cory Aquino and Frank Drilon. What if a senator also says that Secretary Raul Gonzalez, according to a reliable source (say, his former housekeeper’s lover), is keeping gold bars and US dollars in his residence that will wipe out our entire foreign debt. Will Secretary Gonzalez submit to an investigation by the Ombudsman? Will the Ombudsman initiate an investigation?

I wonder what the NBI’s Director Reynaldo Wycoco is going to do. I think he is also wondering what he is supposed to do. Have Cory Aquino followed? But the administration is probably doing that already. Investigate the Senate president? How? Based on what? Hearsay evidence? An unlawful order from Gonzalez? Are they going to bug the phone of Frank Drilon? If they had done that while last week’s Negros Fair was ongoing, they might have heard Drilon’s yearning for “ginamos” [shrimp paste], “pancit molo”, and “piyaya.”

Since they have no witness, they should handcuff the chattering relative of Frank Drilon and give her a very cold shower until she talks. While she is at it, she might “confess” to all other things, such as the one she might have forgotten, which is, that someone told her that Drilon is keeping an armory in a secret house, ready for a coup d’état. The plot really thickens. Then they can padlock the Senate, declare whatever they wanna call it, and warn the people that anyone who joins a rally will get a “calibrated” clubbing before being thrown in the worst smelling jail in Metro Manila. The people will rise in protest and flood the streets. Then the police can use “calibrated preemptive response,” which does not mean they will calibrate the intelligence of their law enforcers. They mean that they will use force, but the degree or method will be “calibrated.” If you look like a vagrant, you will get clubbed with a steel pipe. If you look like a name in Metro Manila is named after your family name, you will be paddled softly. But just to show all of you that prison is no place for nice people, they will throw all you in jail. They said they would spare no one who joins a rally without a permit, not even Cory Aquino.

We all know, because we can take “judicial notice,” that Cory Aquino, former president of the Republic of the Philippines whose husband Ninoy was murdered, will never have anyone killed, much less agree to have anyone killed. But she will not be silenced for fear that she will be accused of plotting to have someone killed, or involved in a conspiracy to commit rebellion. I met her in the Negros Fair the other day, and she briefly mentioned that accusation with a smile, as if reporting on the bad state of the weather.