Now get the Vizconde killers

The accused in the Vizconde massacre case have been acquitted by the Supreme Court. Seven justices voted in favor of their acquittal. Four dissented and four others abstained.  The most important element - guilt beyond reasonable doubt - had not been proven. In fact, the SC found a number of reasons that led to their acquittal.
I was the Manila reporter of  Money Asia when investigations on the Vizconde massacre began at the NBI. I have to admit that I was initially swayed to believe they were guilty as we were presented with a star witness and corroborating witnesses.
There is just one story that I wrote on the case that somehow gave me a serious doubt on the guilt of the accused:  government's refusal to the DNA test, a challenge made by Hubert Webb's camp. Why would the prime suspect, Webb, take a big risk in submitting himself to the DNA testing? And why government, if it was certain that Webb is indeed guilty, refused such an offer. They could have nailed him down if he was guilty.
Years passed and I transferred as the justice reporter for the Manila Standard, covering the DOJ, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. The DNA challenge was brought to the courts, with government insistent on its refusal to the DNA testing, Later on, the government said the DNA sample can no longer be used. 
Another angle was the testimony of US officials certifying that Webb was in America when the crime occurred. Knowing their tediousness in record-keeping, the government  should have given this weight. Instead they insisted on their insinuation that the suspects' parents are influential enough to force US officials to tamper with their records.
After this decision, the Aquino administration must answer these questions and address these concerns:
* Where are the real assailants of the Vizcondes? Lauro deserves justice.
*  Where is star witness Jessica Alfaro? She should tell the real story. She should also be given protection NOW.
* Where are the corroborating witnesses, such as the maid who claimed to have seen Webb, the day after the crime? She should also be given protection against people who may have coerced her to tell this big  lie.
*  Will it compensate the suspects for the years they wrongly spent in jail?
We should revisit the case, not for the purposes of seeking a reversal of the decision. Acquittals cannot be appealed. It is the suspects' right against double jeopardy.
We should do this to see who really killed the Vizcondes.

To Whine Sucks!

     The Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional Malacanang's first executive order, which creates the Truth Commission. The high court said the EO is created specifically for former President Arroyo, which violates the equal protection clause of the law.
     This is a fact that Malacanang cannot deny since President Aquino stressed this in several occasions:  that the Truth Commission is meant to probe, try and prosecute (and persecute?) the former President.
     Now I'm quite surprised that the legal minds of Malacanang are now feigning surprise that this angle caused their defeat. Don't tell me you're not aware that this is indeed a loophole that any good lawyer can use against the EO. I'm not a lawyer but these legal minds should be reminded that they are dealing with the Megamind of Philippine politics. Dapat pinulido ninyo ang trabaho ninyo.
     Now the Supreme Court is saying that this is not the EO's end. All Malacanang needs is to revise it. Include in its mandate investigations on the omissions of all past administrations. They can go back as far as the errors of the Arroyo, Estrada, Ramos and errr Aquino administration.
    But alas they chose to WHINE instead of finding ways to cure the flaw. The President event went to the extent of making veiled threat against the magistrates. "Don't stand in my way", stated with the passion that reminds us of Prisco Nilo's failure to accurately predict the weather. Nang-aaway muna eh.
    There are options available for a reversal of the decision. That includes the SC. Inginuso na nga sa inyo ang daan di ba? Sundin nyo muna kaya bago ninyo awayin?
    And of course, there are other avenues - the original path as laid down by the Constitution: the Ombudsman and the courts.
    Aba'y kung kayang awayin ni Noynoy ang SC, mas kaya niya naman siguro ang Ombudsman?




 

PNOY SUCs

The Senate has approved on third and final reading the 2011 national budget, including the budget for its dole-out program and the controversial allocation for state universities and colleges. The budget for the conditional cash transfer program is at P21 billion, the budget for SUCs at P23.4 billion. Senate President Franklin Drilon said there were no budget cuts for the SUC. Budget Secretary Butch Abad confirms there are to be increase either.

Abad, former education Secretary of former President Arroyo, said government has to prioritize other pressing socio-economic need that is why it cannot increase funding for SUCs. That more pressing socio-economic concern of course is the CCT program, a dole-out program which efficiency is unproven (and to be implemented by a secretary who’d been dragged into a controversy involving supposed money for the poor.  That is not very reassuring.

Education is an equally important socio-economic need that should not be set aside because of a dole-out program. Simple question: who are the beneficiaries of the CCT? And who are the people enrolled in state universities and colleges? They are one and the same.

Let say for the sake of argument that one Santos family receives money from the CCT and let’s say that a member of the Santos brood is a student from an SUC. Due to the lack of support for SUCs, the Santos student will have to spend more, and guess where the Santos parent will get the money from: the CCT dole-out.  Some of course will dare say that government in providing the CCT solved the Santos family problem. That is of course glossing over the fact that it was government, in denying SUCs enough funding, created the Santos problem.

Government defenders will of course argue that I’m stretching the scenario a bit. But that is what’s happening at the ground. SUCs, tasked to raise money for its own needs, will be forced to create INCOME-GENERATING PROJECTS that will have students as cornered market. Either sila pinapabenta ng tiket o pinabibili ng tiket. Spaces, used to be allotted for the activities of students and offices of student organizations are being leased to private interests so these SUCs can have their own money. Di nga ba’t para nang mall ang karamihan sa mga SUCs?

Our government officials, most of whom are educated in private schools because their parents can afford it, should be reminded that SUCs are the only access of the poor to education, our only chance to improve our lives. I hate to sound like reducing this to a class issue. Minsan sakay naman kayo ng IKOT-TOKI, pasyal naman kayo sa RILES, para maintindihan ninyo kung ano ang epekto ng pinaggagawa ninyo.

MESSAGE SENDING FAILED

Malacanang’s communication team finally realized that they need to do more to improve the way they do their jobs. Mukhang mahina talaga ang dating ng signal sa Palasyo at ngayon lang na-realize ang katotohanang ito.  But to be fair, this admission is a lot better than continuing to pretend that they are actually doing great, deserving the daily “stars” that good pre-schoolers get.

The Communications group said they will meet on Thursday (Dec 1) to discuss ways to tighten the way they communicate with the public. Let me offer some unsolicited advice.

The structure that they have right now is not all bad. You have stewards for each concern/function.  The Arroyo administration also used this approach by having spokespersons for each concerns (political, economic, PGMAs election lawyer, even an FGMA spokesperson).

This administration chose to do it by function (messaging, delivery and operations.) The set-up, in both administrations – and as originally meant – has allowed media to identify whom to approach on issues.

The distinction between the PGMA and Pnoy communications groups lie in the amount of power vested in the unit heads. PGMA’s spokespersons are mere deputies, answerable to a secretary (the late Cerge Remonde.)  

Pnoy’s spokespersons are secretaries in rank, operating individually, with turf and foot soldiers at their beck and call. They were always available for studio guestings and phone patch interviews until media began pricking away at Pnoy’s aura. Now commentators refer to  them as Secretary “Ringing”  (Ricky) Carandang and “Saan na si?” (Sonny) Coloma, the reason of course of is self-explanatory.

Further compounding the set-up is the presence of another secretary, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. During the campaigns, Lacierda is Pnoy’s campaign spokesperson. Even the LP stalwarts were prudent enough to let him do his job. Butch Abad and Erin Tanada speak for Noynoy only when the party is involved.

So my advice really is for Malacanang to simplify the set-up: appoint a Press Secretary and place the messaging and delivery secretaries as his deputies.  I won’t go into naming the best person for the job. I can only suggest that Pnoy should widen his choices to include people outside of the groups he feel he is indebted to.

One more thing: the Comgroup told media that it wants “a little bit more flair” in the way they communicate for the President. I surely hope that this doesn’t mean more “news” on Pnoy’s love life.

WHEN EO BEGINS TO SOUND LIKE EEEW

President Aquino has just issued two executive orders that send mixed signals to the bureaucracy and the people.

The first is the order for the return of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s control under the Office of the President.  At the surface, there is nothing scandalous in the EO because the PCSO is originally with the OP. But to political duderos like me, the questions are: Why it was taken out of OP in the first place? Why was it transferred to line agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and then to the Department of Health?  What are the timelines of these transfers? Were these transfers done near elections when “welfare money” and “health cards” need to reach vote-rich communities? 

Skeptics of course will ask: Is it being transferred now because the President wants a steady flow of money for his own dole-out program? Political extremists will add: If the fund had been misused by the past administration, what is the guarantee that it will not be dirtied again?

The second order is that giving Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa the power to approve releases of any interests or penalties of the Social Security System (SSS) not exceeding P200, 000. The process previously needs the approval of the President.

Skeptics will ask: Why is the OP – and now ES Ochoa – being burdened with a ministerial task that SSS officials can do by their own?  Political extremists will add: Is this a way of pinpointing the ES as the one who erring companies can approach if they want their problems solved?

In both instances, the OP has assumed tasks that line agencies can perform. Can he not trust his people to do what’s right and just?

This administration’s short history is already replete with the issuance of orders and circulars that are apparently issued in haste, and have to be taken back for glaring errors, and released again after serious tweaking and fine-tuning. This is what happened in memorandum circular 1 and now the EO for the rebel soldiers’ amnesty.

In every instance, it is the President who suffers. He tries very hard to justify the errors of his team and he ends up looking like he is micromanaging the entire government. The President’s men should get their acts together. Nag–VMV na ba kayo?

ENTENG FOR YOU

Usec. Enteng Romano of the DOT has resigned, the only one so far in the long list of Aquino men who are now collectively known and referred to by some commentators and columnists as Sablay (Samar and Balay).

A number of opinion leaders laud Romano’s decision. I am prepared to accord him that respect but not up to the point that we should “romanticize” what he did as something “honorable”. What Enteng did was just right. It is the only appropriate action a public servant must take after compromising the interest of the nation. He resigned because he failed Pnoy, and us. Here’s a rare case of a subordinate willing to do enteng for his boss: (that’s Pnoy, not us.)

This display of decency is what is lacking in government. Enteng’s errors are minor compared to major operational disasters, rubberized executive orders and mistweets. Hopefully, may mahiya. Pero pustahan o, wala nang susunod sa yapak ni Enteng?

 Anyway, Romano’s resignation may have temporarily diffused the situation. But Pnoy can’t sweep this again under the rug (with Romano being the rug.) Questions must still be answered.  P5 million is P5million. Drama-drama ninyong nagtitipid kayo sa New York di ba?

Well, that’s the problem with people elevating themselves to the moral high ground. Kitang kita lahat ng ginagawa mo at madali kang batuhin. Choice nyo na. Ang tanong: Kaya pa ba?

PILIPINAS KAY GANDA: DAANG MATUWID

    Like a hot New York hotdog, President Aquino has dropped the Pilipinas Kay Ganda tourism campaign. This is Employee Number One responding to his bosses' order for him and his subordinates (or groupies) to come up with a better tourism slogan. (And in case of a collective intellectual atrophy, keep WOW Philippines!)
  President Aquino is doing it again: solving the problem of a beleaguered underling, coming to the rescue of his juveniles who traipsed over political landmines. This is his systematic way of sweeping issues under the rug while he blinds the nation with his phospororescent Cory aura. Mr. President, May I have the honor to burst the bubble: it's no longer working.
  The administration has even tried to downplay the whole event, insinuating that no public money has been spent on the campaign, with the brains behind it doing the service pro-bono.
  But a blog by journalist Ellen Tordesillas (link provided below) showed that at least P3 million had been allotted for it during the launch. P3 million is not loose change. It could have bought President Aquino decent dinner in New York. And it could buy hundreds of poor families three meals.
  As correctly pointed out by journalist Ira Panganiban in his Facebook post: Is this the "Matuwid na Daan" he had promised?
 Ano ba ang itsura ng daang matuwid sa mga lasing sa kapangyarihan?


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