Aquino regime doing ala-Gloria: Omerta during times of anomalous deals

What happened today at the Senate confirmed the fears of many---that the Executive have become the monster it accused the former administration of being. At the Senate hearing called for by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago today, several Palace officials weren't present, an unfortunate reminder of several years past when these officials were on the other side of the fence and calling for GMA and her erring ones to attend a Senate inquiry.
And why would these palace officials attend anyway? One of them, and a close Noynoy associate pa, is being asked to "bare all" regarding a "suspected anomalous gun transaction", so expect a Mafia-style "omerta" to happen.

Four Executives of Pnoy, namely, DENR secretary Ramon Paje, DILG secretary Mar Roxas III, Executive secretary Paquito Ochoa and DOJ secretary Leila de Lima were called but snubbed the Senate hearing. 

Malacanang said, they have to get the reason why these officials are being asked to attend the hearing on the alleged gun anomaly, which several sectors say, caused the estrangement of ties between President Aquino and his erst-while gun range buddy, former DILG undersecretary Rico Puno.

I recall several years ago, how Roxas had lambasted former president Gloria Arroyo of not allowing her Cabinet members to attend a Senate inquiry on the ZTE case and of how the Palace had treated the sanctity of a Senate investigation. 

Now even though the shoe is on the other foot, the same thing happened. It is not the Aquino nor the Arroyo regimes are being affected, it is the public, who owe it to Puno and Aquino to reveal what really happened. 

Puno owes it to us, and not to Senator Santiago, an explanation of why those assault rifles were priced exorbitantly high and why, inspite of the order from the President not to pursue the deal, Puno had to sideswipe the President and gave the go-signal? What is so important about this deal that Puno had risk a good friendship just for this?

Clue---many observers believe the "kapalit" seems to be a luxurious villa estate in Tagaytay highlands?

No saints in ZTE-NBN deal

I read the voluminous Senate report on the ZTE-NBN deal and I must agree with Ramon Tulfo---it exposed the conspiracy of ALL ZTE-NBN actors, most notably the losing bidders and the deal cookers. I must agree with Senator Richard Gordon that the actors in this deal are all demons in barong.

It was a collusion meant to defraud government of billions of pesos worth of taxpayer's money. The loser in this deal was ZTE Corporation, which, says Joey de Venecia III, lost almost a billion pesos when they reportedly gave grease money to certain government officials.

Based on the report, the project was a laudable project, meant to develop the telecommunications infrastructure of the Philippines. The NEDA approved the project and the DOTC was the lead agency implementor.

The DOTC found a suitable tech partner in the person of ZTE Corporation, China's biggest supplier of telecomms equipment and gadgets. ZTE Corporation dealt with the DOTC officials. However, under the law, such projects should have been bidded out instead of a negotiated sale. On this part, the DOTC erred.

The bidding was just for show because at the onset, government intended really to give ZTE the project. Some "arrangements" were initiated, one of which was convincing Amsterdam Holdings local representative Joey de Venecia III to take part in the charade and just team up with ZTE. Or just, clam up, as what former COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos told the young De Venecia. Or "back-off" as what principal government mafia head First Gentleman Mike Arroyo said.

It seems that De Venecia III disagreed because Amsterdam Holdings want the whole pie and not a portion of it. Who would agree for 500 million pesos when you can get as much as US$ 1 BILLION for this deal? So, the younger De Venecia took on a war footing and exposed the nefarious deal before the media. That strategy backfired in the end, because everyone lost the project altogether.

De Venecia III says that he prevented the deal from happening but the transcripts say otherwise. What De Venecia III actually wanted was for the government to re-bid the project, not to shelve it. There is a gulf of difference between re-bidding and "shelving". Government opted to shelve it to shield it from further political harm.

De Venecia III did not cause the shelving of the project out of genuine concern for the people's money nor did he accomplished the feat independently without commercial compunction. The expose was actually an attempt meant to harm the winning bidders, not to protect the people's money.

For that, says the report, De Venecia III deserves to be charged with graft.

On the part of Jun Lozada, he was an unwilling witness. He just went ballistic when he felt that government was abandoning him or was intending to harm him. He cannot be a saint also since he was part of those who cooked the deal from the start. He uttered the immortal line " bubukol ito" because the "commissions" went out of line already. A commission which involved billions of pesos is simply too risky and too obvious not to be noticed. As Lozada said, it was "too greasy."Hence the other immortal line, " Moderate the Greed."

What Lozada just meant to say was it is okey to be greedy but just in "moderation", never beyond the obvious. For Lozada, corruption has its limits. Now, he knows that everything corrupt is graft. If you intend to steal even a centavo out of the people's money, that's corruption and greediness already. There is no borderline for corruption. There is only corruption and no corruption, period. But for the ZTE-NBN greedy bunch, commissions totalling multi-millions are allowable.

And it was probably God's intention that the oust Gloria movement during those times did not take off simply because it was again, premised on a wrong presumption. EDSA two was a misinterpretation and a result of cono class animosity over institutional gangsterism. If the coup succeeded in ousting Gloria in 2008, the results would still be a failure of democracy. We would have gone to the streets to protect the moderates in the corruption business, which, for me, again, is not a genuine cause for revolutions.

ZTE-NBN deal and the Art of the WhiteWash

Tuesday will go down in history as the greatest monumental square-off between former family friends, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and ZTE-NBN whistleblower Joey de Venecia III. And should this square-off happens, there's only one conclusion---the possible incarceration of the whistleblower instead of the master bender.

Senator Richard Gordon has sent word that he invited the First gentleman and the DOTC officials led by Secretary Leandro Mendoza to attend this Tuesday's Senate Blue ribbon committee hearing. Gordon believes that before he even releases his findings, there should be another hearing to "clear some cobwebs" so to speak, about the real story behind the "greatest graft scandal" ever to hit this country in so many years.For me, the square off is clearly not necessary for one obvious reason---there are hours and hours worth of testimonies in past ZTE-NBN hearings and those are more than enough to fill a 100 page report. But, no. Senator Gordon wants to hammer out the message of the Office of the Ombusman--that the First Family is not involved in this anomalous deal.

And with a favorable ally sitting as chair of the Blue Ribbon, the First Gentleman does not need to find succor at St. Luke's. No. He'll probably brave it out. But, will he be able to gaze at Joey de Venecia's direction without even flinching his eyes?

Joey welcomes the chance to face the First Gentleman, confident that he committed no crime. In a statement, Joey said that Gordon committed a grave infraction when he inadvertently announced his initial opinion, saying that the Ombusman should have included the De Venecias in the charge sheet. If Gordon thinks that the De Venecias are guilty, then, why another hearing? Is'nt strange that the Senate blue ribbon needs another day to what? To hammer out a favorable public impression and clean the tarnished name of his amigo, the First Gentleman and his amiga, Gloria Arroyo?

Obviously, Gordon wants to do a Pontius Pilate before he runs for re-election because he knows that his handling of this case would haunt him during election time. He already whitewashed the Joc-Joc Bolante case and because of proper PR handling, there was no public outrage that came out shortly when he released the recommendations. That Joc-Joc Bolante case was a "test case" so to speak, and provided pro-administration senators like Gordon a template to manage sensitive issues like this ZTE-NBN deal.

And that is a problem for whistleblowers Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada---this administration has now perfected the art of the whitewash. If they mishandle the public relations aspect of this case, they're in for a shock of their lives because they'll be pictured as villains and false heroes instead of Patriots. Gordon and the rest of the First Gentleman's team are exploiting the lingering thought in the public sphere that this deal is about "onsehan" and these whistleblowers were motivated not by love of country but by the very thought of losing a great deal of money.

This thought has permeated even in the inner circles of power and those dinky coffee shops in hotels and places in the Metropolis. A year has passed and the public is now ready to accept new facts about this case. If Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada mishandle this, they'll surely come out of this as pseudo-patriots and liars. And the public hates liars.

Joey is confident that he did nothing wrong and the public believes him. There are more than enough evidence to pin the First Family in this ZTE-NBN deal, more than, say the circumstantial evidence that the Office of the Ombusman has against Benjamin Abalos and Romulo Neri. The fact that photos caught the First Couple playing golf and eating oysters with ZTE officials and those text messages Gloria sent to Neri, ordering him to just accept the money and approve the deal are more than enough to include them in the graft charge sheet.

Yet, Gordon hopes that if he plays his cards right, he'll be able to convince the public that these pieces of evidence amount to nothing, show nothing and mean nothing. Of course, Gordon embarked on a charm offensive with his tearful outbursts in those kidnapping episodes and those guestings as presidentiable. Yet, behind those charming charades lie a dastardly plan to hide his role as the palace's self-appointed Mr. Clean. Beneath those cheesy smiles and pink-colored cheeks hides an insidious mind ready to follow the wishes and caprices of his principals.
And for what? To get that anointment from Mrs. Arroyo and be part of that 10 billion election campaign kitty? To snatch that nomination from Vice President Noli de Castro or at the least, that vice presidential post from Ronnie Puno?

Or maybe, just maybe, add some more funds for a re-election bid? Or, again chair the revival of Subic as a US military facility?

Whatever it is, expect History to again be on the side of the devil enfant. :-)

Breaking news--NORTHRAIL PROJECT TO GO AHEAD!

After all the hoopla and the drama, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) is pushing thru with the very controversial and very overpriced Northrail project. Yes, Noemi, it is definitely pushing thru. And the people must be made to understand that they must be ready to pay more than US$700 million for this huge monstrosity.

Imagine, this project and that of the ZTE cost the head of former Speaker (and alleged “Global Filipino”) Joe de Venecia Jr. No, I stand corrected—this controversy actually put an end to the decades-old political ascendancy of JDV. It has lead, providentially in fact, to a succession, which we will see in 2010.

So, if the Northrail project is pushing thru, are we then seeing the revival of the mothballed ZTE project? Or, the project is actually now on-going in a different name? We will never know.
Ultimately, it was only the activists who got hoarse shouting to high heavens how fucked things are. Eventually, those close to the Palace got their millions, plain and simple.

What can you say to this, Joey de Venecia? After all your revelations in the Senate, you failed to prevent these grafters from getting what they want.

Double Talk Amidst Societal Chaos

Peace double talk

Former AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon is now Gloria's chief peace negotiator, a few days after his retirement. I don't know what came over Gloria but why did she retain Esperon? His tenure as AFP C-S is quite turbulent. Was he retained solely for his knack at creating destabilization or for his prowess in electioneering? Probably both.

Esperon's appointment speaks volumes on the true peace plan of GMA. Esperon is the least person to be given the powers to talk peace on behalf of government. Everyone knows his true nature--that of a lapdog. He's largely credited for plunging this country into total chaos because of the caper he did in Mindanao during the 2004 elections.

Power play

Amado Doronilla says nothing will come out of Malacanang's power play against the Lopezes. Over at ABS-CBN, the Lopezes are still defiant, vowing to survive this latest onslaught while sending their president to tomorrow's Cabinet meeting over at Panglao Island in Bohol. Will there be a blood compact in the name of big bucks there? Or will these two camps lunge at each other's throats 7 days from now? Knowing how haughty the Lopezes are, chances are they will not bulge against the Arroyos. Or would they?

Callousness

The Arroyo administration admitted meeting the ZTE officials over at Shenzhen. For meeting Arroyos, the gods punished the Chinese with a devastating earthquake, killing more than 20,000 people. Even abroad, Gloria is creating chaos.

Transport Groups double talked

Lastly, transport groups raised a howl after the DOTC withdrew an order from the LTFRB to raise transport fees. This is double talk, says these groups and threatened the government of another transport holiday. Well, I hope they do it this time. Otherwise, will just laugh at them.

Cha-cha train pushes through the dark night

Amidst controversy over the ZTE graft probe, Malacanang, as predicted, pushed through with the charter change train. Former Presidential Chief of Staff Joey Salceda led the charge Tuesday despite some protestations on the timing of the campaign. So, the cha-cha train pushed through the dark night.

This confirms my earlier writings that this entire shembang--the neutralization of Lakas, the ouster of JDV, the election of Nograles, the incarceration of opponents and the apparent coolness of the palace in the ZTE drama--are components of the palace plan for charter change. Ramos has just said last year that cha-cha is too late in the game because any change initiative now would be misinterpreted by the people as a veiled attempt at power perpetuation. Groups, particularly the Opposition, have said time and again that they would oppose cha-cha done at this time.

What all these indicate?

The palace is drunk with power. Because of the inability of people's organizations and the middle class to rise against it, it has been transformed into a whole gigantic mafia organization that has the capability of destroying everything that would try to block its way. It is now flexing its muscles, like a great fire-mouthing dragon, ready to engulf its enemies. This cha-cha campaign shows how resilient and determined this administration is in its attempts at prolonging the term of Arroyo beyond 2010.

This is war.

Groups said that the reason why they are not all out in opposing Arroyo is that it is averting civil war. Well, their silence or their somewhat "critical collaboration" stance has now embolden Arroyo and her cohorts so much so that Arroyo thinks that she is invincible. Groups should now rise over partisan interests and if they are really dead serious in their opposition to cha-cha now, they should coalesce and form a strong front to fight Arroyo.