Remember July 8, 2005

Much has been said about that critical moment on July 8, 2005 when the administration was about to cave-in. News reports have stated that the caving in was prevented by former President Fidel V. Ramos and Speaker Joe de Venecia when the two hurriedly made it to Malacanang to manifest their support for the incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Actually what saved the day was the support given by the incumbent Vice President during the cabinet meeting. His appearance assured the incumbent president that no Edsa Dos scenario will occur.

The Erap pardon was a hurried pardon gave on the same day that JDV3 again spilled dung on the floor of the Senate on the corruption attendant to the ZTE Broadband deal. As early as the 19th of October, news have been circulating about a presidential pardon to be given by the end of the week of 22-26 October. Part of the political news circulating was that even Senator Jinggoy Estrada is assured of the VP slot for 2010 in KAMPI, the erstwhile party of President Arroyo. Most of those involved in politics were totally shocked at the developments but having been from one crisis to another, political consultants have taken the news with a grain of salt.

Days after the grant of pardon, news are again circulating about the division in the official cabinet of the PGMA with 8 cabinet secretaries saying no to a fastbreak pardon. It appears though that DILG Secretary and concurrent political advicer got the upper hand in the process. His stock has again been attractive sheperding the agreement between two presidents. It should also be noted that meetings went to overdrive among key stakeholders: a) Left and civil society, b) Military, c) FPJ group, d) Opposition, and e) Lakas and Kampi.

A petition is going around calling for a snap election. Chief Justice Reynato Puno has politely said "no" to the offer to lead a transition team, the conservatives in the CBCP appear to have gotten the upper hand in the debate within the church on what to do with PGMA. And the pardoned Erap seems to be media shy with UNO president, Mayor Jojo Binay, asking Erap about his plans.

Today, flashpoints remain. The Pulido-San Luis endorsed impeachment complaint is pending, the payola scandal covering both the local governments and members of the House of Representatives is hanging, the net on the ZTE scandal appears to have been thrown wide, the ethics case against the Speaker and the looming opening of Congress on November 5 with the Speakership at stake. Looks like the principal character in all the plays is Jose de Venecia. We shall see in the days ahead whether the Speaker will cross his rubicon.

Erap pardoned by GMA

After the resumption of the ZTE hearing in the Senate today where star witness Jose de Venecia III narrated how much money the First Gentleman, Mike Arroyo, will receive from the ZTE deal, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo granted pardon to former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Estrada is the first president to be impeached by the House of Representatives under then Speaker Manuel Villar.

In the said Senate hearing, de Venecia quoted busineman Ricky Razon as saying that Abalos intimated to the First Gentleman that he has $70 million for the NBN project if it is given to ZTE. Still recovering from such accusation, President Arroyo gained foothold to counter the results of the Senate hearing and in a government-owned and -controlled TV station broadcast issued the order, read by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye:

"Whereas this administration has a policy of releasing inmates who have reached the age of 70;
Whereas Joseph Ejercito Estrada has been under detention for six and a half years;
Whereas Joseph Ejercito Estrada has publicly committed to no longer seek any elective position or office;

In view hereof and pursuant to the authority conferred upon me by the Constitution, I hereby grant Executive clemency to Joseph Ejercito Estrada, convicted of plunder and imposed a penalty of Reclusion Perpetua.

1. He is hereby restored his civil and political rights.
2. The forfeitures imposed by the Sandiganbayan remain in force and in full, including all writs and processes issued by the Sandiganbayan in pursuance hereof, except for bank accounts he owned before his tenure as President.

Upon acceptance of this pardon by Joseph Ejercito Estrada, this pardon shall take effect."

You just can't fool the people all of the time!!!

What is the League of Provinces? What are its mandate and programs? Somehow one gets to wonder with all the money coming out for elected officials last October 11, 2007 in Malacanang Palace, two things remain unanswered: why in cash and what is the money for?

When you have an institution calling for multi-lateral dialogs for the release of Php19.9 Billion unpaid Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) due to local government units then all of a sudden handing out Php500,000.00 to new governors, you somehow wonder... what gives? In the website of the League of Provinces, the main story there is all about the "unpaid IRA due to the reenactment of the 2001 and 2003 national budget and a portion of the Local Government Service Equalization Fund which was not released according to the provisions of the Constitution, the Local Government Code and the landmark Supreme Court decision on the issue." It further stated that the "P19.9 billion is broken down as follows: P3-Billion of 1991 LGSEF, P2.5 Billion of 2000 LGSEF, P2.0 Billion of 2001 LGSEF due to the re-enactment of 2000 GAA, the P10.0 Billion discrepancy due to the re-enactment of 2000 GAA, and another P2.4 Billion difference due to the re-enactment of 2003 GAA." The Php19.9 Billion is public money.

Then last October 22, the public was again subjected to contorted lies from Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, the League's Executive Vice President and Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone. After a one page paid advertisement regaring political noise, they somersaulted after 11 days saying the money given to Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio and Bulacan Gov. Jonjon Mendoza came from the League as support to new governors, a practice from the past. To which Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca immediately debunked. So after the one page ad, Reyes and Evardone shot themselves with their explanations. Incredulous! When further asked who among the new governors received the bag, Reyes said there schedules in the future. How much? probably the same?

Lets do the math then. From the horses' mouth came the information that each province pays a membership fee of Php120,000.00 to the League. Lets accept the amount as the base. That money is not private money by the way. It comes from the coffer of every province, supported further by a provincial board ordinance. So everything is public, meaning government. There are 81 governors, 44 of whom are neophytes. The Leageu therefore realizes a total of Php9.72 million from membership fees alone. Assuming, the story is true, if Php500,000.00 will be given to the 44 new governors, the League would need Php22 million or is short by Php12.28 million.

Now, let's go to the League itself since apparently the blame for different depository accounts (Bank of Commerce for Gov. Panlilion's bundle and PSBank for Gov. Mendoza's bundle), distribution in the Palace, etc. are all being thrown now to the Executive Director of the League. Now, here is another twist: how can an appointed officer rise above the appointing power? You mean to tell me he determines everything on his own? What a story!

Lets look at League's Plans & Programs and the only nearest thing to the "gift giving" act or "support for projects" is that on Expanding Revenue Base which does not talk about donating League funds for neophyte governors. Lets now take a look at their Constitution and by-laws and again there is nothing about assistance to new governors. If that is true, then the League should show an approved and signed resolution passed by their National Executive Board.

C'mon guys... the people are not stupid!

"Only the event will teach us in its hour"

Jose de Venecia is the man of the hour.

The speaker of the 14th Congress, de Venecia is the father of ZTE whistleblower Joey de Venecia. His son apparently has been the redeeming value of the epitomy of Philippine traditional politics and it seems the man is steadfast in pursuing a different path, marching to a different drum.

De Venecia heads the 239 member House of Representatives. He is on his last third term and with 115 new termers representing 48% of the total membership, the Speaker may just be molding a different legacy totally different from the political brand he has been known for. When Congress resumes its session on November 5, all eyes and ears will be in the House of Representatives because of several flash points: 1) the compliant filed by Atty. Pulido against the Speaker before the Ethics Committee headed by Rep. Eleandro Madrona (Lone Dist-Lakas, Romblon) ; 2) the impeachment complaint filed by the same Atty. Pulido against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which was endorsed by Rep. Eggy San Luis (4th Dist-Ind, Laguna) and the possibility of amending the same; 3) the resolution filed by Rep. Teddy Casino (PL-Bayan Muna) on the purported bribery of members of the House by Malacanang, and 4) the possibility of declaring all seats vacant thus removing Speaker de Venecia.

A senior member of the House occupying a leadership position has said that the removal of Speaker de Venecia could lead to the downfall of Arroyo may have some ring to it considering that the Speaker has defended the fortress three times; two impeachments and rallying the faithful in a show of force together with former President Fidel V. Ramos at the hieght of the resignations by Arroyo's official family (Hyatt 10).

Today De Venecia talks about a "moral revolution." One wonders why the belated clarion call when all along his name has always been whispered in big ticket deals. In his "An Appeal to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo," the Speaker asked that the president use the vast powers of the presidency to lead a moral revolution in our public life. De Venecia described the political system as "hopelessly corrupt, morally tainted and beyond saving" and pointed to a model ("do what Lee Kuan Yew did in Singapore: cleanse national society of corruption") further quoting Proverbs 14:34, "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

De Venecia has called for the "creation of a high-level Council on Moral Reform and National Renewal." In this call, he cited three thematic issues: "politically, the key problem is corruption; economically, it is slow and highly uneven gowth; socially, it is mass poverty passed down from generation to generation." The Speaker listed 13 principal tasks under political, 8 under economic and 9 under social; promising further that the House will do its share of House cleaning, such as: "ridding the House of undesirable practices by subjecting dusbursements of public money to the strictest scrutiny, all items in teh CDF be itemized in a line budget publicized in full transparency and subjected to public bidding, using the electronic-procurment law, institutionalize district-wide development planning through formal "town-hall meetings" to determine the choice of projects for public financing."

Somehow, such effort should be a welcome development. But as everybody knows, one cant get much action done in the last two minutes of any administration, political will and everything. But if Speaker de Venecia can institute reform in his sphere of influence -- the House of Representatives -- and spearheads the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, Fiscal Responsibility Act and I will add one more measure that surely will be supported, the Legislative Reorganization and Reform Act, then indeed there is meaning to what the Speaker once said: "only the event will teach us in its hour."

From MTPDP to ZTE, where are we going?

On 11 October 2004, NEDA Director General Romulo L. Neri presented to the donor community the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan or MTPDP 2004-2010. Interestingly, there were two slides on the planned Digital Infrastructure which somehow veers away from what little we know of ZTE since the annexes of the Supply Contract has not been made public, as yet.

How do we now reconcile the MTPDP and ZTE? Why the changes in the reference? Hazard a guess?

Regulatory Capture

The theory of regulatory capture was set out by Richard Posner, an economist and lawyer at the University of Chicago, who argued that “Regulation is not about the public interest at all, but is a process, by which interest groups seek to promote their private interest ... Over time, regulatory agencies come to be dominated by the industries regulated.” Most economists are less extreme, arguing that regulation often does good but is always at RISK of being captured by the regulated firms.”

Richard Posner’s approach to regulation exactly echoes Chicago School’s traditional attitude to market economy. The Chicago School of Economics became famous with the theories of Milton Friedman, who had been influenced by the ideas of Hayek. Friedman and his colleagues in Chicago support the deregulation of market, free trade and retreat of state intervention. It was an assault on the macroeconomic assumptions of Keynes, which ended up as a thoroughgoing critique of antitrust law, administrative regulation, tax policy, trade and monetary theory. In brief, they support the theory of a competitive market as a regulatory system. Elsewhere Posner wrote that "The evils of natural monopoly are exaggerated, the effectiveness of regulation in controlling them is highly questionable, and regulation costs a great deal." According to the Chicago School of Economics, governments do not accidentally create monopoly in industries. Rather, they too often regulate at the insistence, and for the benefit of interest groups who turn regulation to their own ends. For them administrative regulation serves the regulated entities rather than the consumers.

The two slides of the powerpoint presentation of then NEDA Director General Romy Neri best exemplify what he was talking about in the Senate hearing where he testified on the ZTE deal. These slides were part and parcel of his inputs for the so-called Reform Agenda of the Arroyo Government.

Too Brazen!!!

BRAZEN! This was the only word I can utter upon hearing the phrase: "Sec. may 200 ka dyan." On 26 September 2007, the three standing committees of the Senate continued its ZTE hearing with the maiden appearance of former NEDA Director General Romy Neri. The meeting lasted well beyond 12 hours and led to an Executive Session when now CHED Chair invoked executive privilege in order not to respond to questions involving President Arroyo.

The photo I chose here shows COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos almost taunting the mild mannered Neri when he told the committees that Chairman Abalos made the bribe offer. Where on earth do you see a person like Abalos who, under oath, lied to the Senators and the people in the gallery and those watching the ANC coverage by saying he does not remember the figure mentioned when even Neri does not know if the amount is Php200.00 or Php200,000.00 or Php200,000,000.00. He was already taunting Neri, lying to the people, and offering a incredible story on the amount offered. And yet, what does a COMELEC chair who cannot implement the modernization program, is in the thick of preparations for the May 2007 election, doing with the Digital Infrastructure program of the Arroyo Government?

Why does he have more time playing golf in Wack-Wack than transforming the COMELEC into a better coordinated and well-responsive agency of government tasked with election administration? After the Garci caper in 2004 now comes ZTE in 2007. He is set to retire February 2008, the 6 years has indeed been too... brazen!!!