Last Wednesday morning, the last day of our three-day seminar-workshop in Cagayan de Oro on “Preparing for the 2010 Elections” organized by the Philippine Press Institute and supported by The Coca-Cola Export Corp., Carol Arguillas and Froilan Gallardo of Mindanews, were nowhere to be seen.

The day before, Carol made a presentation on “Elections and Peace in Mindanao” which disturbed many of us.

We were told that Carol and Froilan had to leave for Marawi City in Lanao del Sur early morning because of the incident of grenade explosion Tuesday afternoon that killed three and injured about 20 persons.

We saw Carol and Froilan in the afternoon looking weary, from the interviews they did with the injured and other witnesses to the explosion.

The two shared with us what they have gathered on what obviously was an election-related violence:

A grenade exploded near the Comelec office at the City Hall of Marawi while voter registration was being conducted.

Those who lined up for registration came in two Armak-branded passenger jeepneys. They came from Linamon, Lanao Norte. Most of them were Christians but were given Maranao names to register.

Carol also said there was a 15-year-old girl and another 14-year-old among the registrants.

They were reportedly promised P1,000 each and were given advance payment of P100. I imagine that the P1,000 is only for registration and they would be paid again come election day on May 10, 2010.

So it looks like a case of flying voters.

Mindanews quoted Fr. Chito Suganub, vicar general of St. Mary prelature and member of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) based in Marawi as saying, “this pre-election violence is a sign that 2010 poll will be violent here because (politicians) are serious to gain power.”

The governor of Lanao del Sur is Mamintal Adiong.

It is being talked about that the position will be contested in 2010 by former Marawi mayor Omar Ali Solitario, a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation front.

Father Suganub said, “Since politicians can’t cheat in the counting because of the modernized system of voting, there are those who attempted to gather flying voters to defeat opponents. Or there are those who are sowing fear too through violence so that voters cannot vote.”

Carol said she was told twenty of the 56 who were in the queue had already registered when the grenade exploded.

But that’s only for one day, Carol said.

The registration had been going on for months and there are still 10 days to go.

She said it's possible that that has been going on the past months and weeks.

The Comelec apparently tolerates it and the PPCRV, the election watchdog, turns a blind eye to it. Last Tuesday's flying voter operation would have gone on without a hitch if not for the explosion.

The October 20 Marawi incident merited only a small item in Manila newspapers.

What the people do not realize is that, the incident underscores one issue that has been side swept by the public's enthusiasm for automated election: the integrity of the voters' list.

Smartmatic's Miquel Avila, presentation and demonstration coordinator, who was in the Cagayan de Oro seminar with Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, stressed that the election process — the voting, counting, and canvassing — is what is going to be automated.

What is not automated, he said, is the registration of voters.

Comelec keeps telling us the the list of voters are being purged.

But what kind of purging is that when busloads of voters from another town is registering in other towns.

In her seminar presentation, Carol said before Zaldy Ampatuan became governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, notoriously known as “reservoir of votes,” there were only 22 towns.

Now, there are 33.

People are not even sure how many people compose those new towns. Residents there are not even sure who belongs to those towns. Some people call them “ghost towns.”

What is being feared about is that, those ghost towns will have their precincts with their set of “ghost” registered voters.

What would happen is that, the candidate who would not be winning in other parts of the country can go to the ARMM and buy the votes they need from the politicians who wield the power there.

Gloria Arroyo did that in 2004.

In 2007, everybody was surprised when Miguel Zubiri topped the senatorial special elections in Maguindanao which gave him the 12th slot currently being contested by Koko Pimentel. It can happen again in 2010 election even with the automation.

Atty. Vic Verdadero was in his element last Thursday when he filed the motion for a finding of ‘not guilty’ for his clients accused of violating the 67th Articles of War which is “attempting to create, begin, cause or join mutiny” for something that did not happen in February 2006.

Verdadero is counsel for Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, then the commander of the First Scout Rangers Regiment and 14 other Rangers and one member of the Army Special Forces, Capt. Dante Langkit.

The 14 other Rangers are Lt Col. Nestor Flordeliza, Lt. Col. Edmundo Malabanjot, Maj. Leomar Jose Doctolero, Capt. Montano Almodovar, Capt. Isagani Criste, Capt. Joey Fontiveros, Capt. Frederick Sales, Capt. James Sababan, Capt. William Victorino Upano, 1Lt Ervin Divinagracia, 1Lt Sando Sereño, 1Lt Jacon Cordero, 1Lt Homer Estolas, and 1Lt Richiemel Caballes.

Verdadero's clients are part of the 28 officers imprisoned by the Arroyo government since July 2006 and charged with mutiny and conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman (A.W. 96) in connection with the alleged plan of some members of the military to join a rally by civil society groups who, at that time, were enraged by the revelations heard in the “Hello Garci” tapes of Arroyo directing the tampering of election results through then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with the help of a number of military officials.

Verdadero used the definition mutiny of the US manual for courts martial, after which the AFP Manual for courts-martial was patterned: “Any person with intent to usurp or override lawful military authority, refuse, in concert with any other person, to obey orders or otherwise do his duty or creates any violence or disturbance is guilty of mutiny.”

Verdadero said, “As testified to by Ambassador (Generoso) Senga, then CSAFP, and confirmed by Vice Admiral (Mateo) Mayuga, when he testified, after talking with General Lim, Col. Querubin, and General Miranda in the early morning of 24 February 2006, the three officers agreed not to push through with their plan to provide leadership to the military elements who could not be dissuaded from joining the protest march on 24 February. So he ordered them to go home. And they followed CSAFP’s order to go home.”

Verdadero said, in fact, when Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, then the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, called Lim up at 4:30 a.m. and advised him to put himself under custody, his client was at home, asleep.

“Is that a person who would commit mutiny?” Verdadero asked.

One of the two star witnesses of the prosecution was Brig. Gen. Jonathan Martir (the other was former AFP Chief Hermogenes Esperon) who testified that when he went to the office of Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, then the Philippine Marines Commandant, at one o'clock in the morning of February 24, 2006, he saw General Lim, in civilian clothes, with Col. Ariel Querubin. He said he heard Lim call someone and say to proceed in front of the Marine headquarters.

Verdadero said the reason why Lim was there was because he had no car. He hitched a ride with Miranda from the meeting with Senga. The person he called, Verdadero said, was his driver Castillo.

“Is Castillo here?” Verdadero tried to look for the driver in the courtroom last Thursday but he could not be found.

“Is that mutiny?” Verdadero directed his question to the panel headed by Maj. Gen. Jogy Fojas.

Atty. Trixie Angeles, counsel for Lt. Col. Achilles Segumalian and Maj. Jason Aquino, raised a good point.

She said the prosecution wants the court to believe that junior officers (the most senior was a major) of the First Scout Rangers Regiment planned the mutiny and was implemented by the Marines.

She said the officers who were supposed to implement were star-ranked.

The scenario painted by the prosecution, Angeles said, “boggles the mind.”

To belie the allegation of the prosecution that the Scout Rangers were planning to arrest Arroyo, Verdadero said GMA was scheduled to come to the FSSR headquarters in Camp Tecson in Bulacan Feb. 25, 2006 to inaugurate a housing project for enlisted men.

If they had intentions of harming her, “Sana hinintay nalang nila ang pagpunta ng mahal na Pangulo doon at pinugutan ng ulo [they should have waited for the visit of the beloved President and then chopped her head off],” Verdadero said complete with hand gesture cutting the neck.

“No,no, Your Honor,” protested Verdadero. “Hindi nila magagawa yan sa ating mahal na pangulo [The accused could not do that to our beloved President].”

Verdadero said the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses talked nothing but ideas, plans, and discussion.

In concluding his motion, Verdadero quoted William Winthrop, the world well-acclaimed authority on military law and justice: “While the intent indicated is essential to the offense, the latter is not completed unless the opposition or resistance be manifested by some overt act or acts, or specific conduct. Mere intention however deliberate and fixed, or conspiracy however unanimous, will fail to constitute mutiny. Words, alone, unaccompanied by acts, will not suffice.”

Seven of Verdadero's clients- Flordeliza, Malabanjot, Sales, Divinagracia, Sereño, Cordero, Caballes – were acquitted last Thursday.

On October 27, we will know of the court's decision on the rest of the respondents.

One of the heart-rending 'Ondoy' stories I’ve read was Agence France Presse’s account of Rojanie Asuncion and her Alzheimer’s stricken mother, Flora Geronimo.

The story tells of Flora, only 69- years old, who went missing on September 26 amid floods that swamped 80 percent of Metro Manila.

Because of her condition, she was unable to tell rescuers her name, where she was from, and how she got to the center in Marikina City.

For three days Rojanie, 37, her family members and friends searched for her mother “across the disaster zone, trudging through mud, climbing over debris and checking mud-streaked faces of survivors.”

They sent out urgent appeals on television and radio stations, and posted pictures of Flora in hundreds of evacuation centers.

One day, Rojanie said some good souls called up the numbers after seeing their appeal on TV to say that a woman who looked like the one in the picture flashed on TV “was found with no other apparent relative in the area,” was in an evacuation center in Marikina City

“We are so happy that we are all still together after the flood … There were times I thought I would never be able to find her,” said Rojanie.

The story touched me deeply because my mother also suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). I felt the anguish that Rojanie went through looking for her mother.

We had our scary moments when our mother would leave the house while we were busy with other things.

One time she was found in the middle of South Luzon Expressway somewhere in Laguna by the tollway patrollers. It was quite a distance from my sister’s place in Molino, Cavite where she was staying at the time.

It was a good thing that at that time, her AD was still in the early stage and she was still able to remember our address in Las Piñas.

Another time, she was found in Alabang by DSWD personnel and all she could tell them was her daughter was “a reporter in Malacañang.” I was then covering the Malacañang beat.

The day before, when she went missing I went to police stations and barangay halls in Las Piñas looking for her.

Police desk officers would give me a strange look when I tell them that I was looking for my mother, as if telling me “what kind of a daughter are you that you neglected your mother.”

Feeling helpless and losing hope, I went to work. When I arrived in Malacañang in the afternoon I was told by a member of the staff in the press office that someone in DSWD Alabang called up to say they have my mother was with them.

I am forever grateful to the personnel at DSWD Alabang. They even brought my mother home because they had to close the office and I couldn’t be there before 5 pm.

Sometimes, a neighbor would find her looking lost in our subdivision and bring her back to us immediately.

But there were times when she would be missing for two days. Those were traumatic experiences.

The stories of how she was bought back to us re-affirm my faith in God, belief in the power of prayer, and goodness of friends and strangers.

AD is named after Alois Alzheimer, who first described the condition in 1906 marked by plagues and tangles around and inside the brain cells.

Typically, Alzheimer’s begins slowly with memory lapses, such as groping for common words or misplacing keys and glasses. Over time, symptoms become more obvious like the patient losing the ability to do routine things such as cook or play cards.

Patients lose their ability to find their way around, to recognize loved ones, and eventually cannot care for themselves. When they realize they are lost, they become anxious.

My mother’s AD manifested when she was in her early 70’s. She passed away in 2003 when she was 83 years old. It was her birthday last Oct. 6.

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Hotlines for missing persons: Marikina – 09209389914; Quezon City – 09216555262; Pasig – 09189356318; and Cainta – 09175606241.

This is what Gloria Arroyo said in her State of the Nation Address last July:

“As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not; the mapping of flood-and-landslide-prone areas is almost complete. Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather-tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga.

“We have worked on flood control infrastructure like those for Pinatubo, Agno, Laoag, and Abucay, which will pump the run off waters from Quezon City and Tondo flooding Sampaloc. This will help relieve hundreds of hectares in this old city of its age-old woe.

“Patuloy naman yung sa CAMANAVA, dagdag sa Pinatubo, Iloilo, Pasig- Marikina, Bicol River Basin, at saka river basin ng Mindanao.”

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Seeing many areas in Metro Manila turned into an ocean, I remember the 1995 futuristic movie “Waterworld”.

“Waterworld” starring kevin Coster as the mutant mariner (he has webbed feet and gills behind the ears) is about the earth when polar ice caps melted. The earth is submerged in water. The survivors didn’t know that; they thought that somewhere at the end of the vast body of water is dry land.

Among the survivors is a girl named Enola, who doesn’t know how to swim because she had always lived in a place of high altitude, far away from the water.

She is fond of drawing trees which gives an idea of a place she had once lived. She is under the care of Helen, another survivor.

Helen and Enola asked the mariner to bring them to what they referred as “Dryland.”

The mariner disabused their mind about “Dryland” by giving them a tour of the bottom of the ocean. There they saw the earth as prominently represented by New York and the statue of Liberty. There is no dry land, the two are made to see reality.

A group of pirates called “Smokers” are after Enola because the tattoo on her back is supposed to be a map to the dry land.

The tattooed characters looked like Sanskrit. The action in the film is provided in the encounters between the Mariner and the Smokers.

The movie’s ending is Enola, Helen and Mariner finding an uninhabited patch of dry land, which turns out to be the girl’s home.

The movie doesn’t say it but it suggests that it’s the summit of Mount Everest, in the border of Tibet and Nepal, the highest peak in the world at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above sea level.

The movie was shown at the time when climate change was still not the buzzword that it is today. Fast melting glaciers have been reported in recent years which environmentalists attribute to global warming.

Weather scientists say that what happened last Saturday when storm Ondoy dumped a month’s worth of rainfall (391.7 millimeters) in just six hours was a manifestation of climate change. We had been seeing signs of it in rains during summer and searing heat during the usually rainy month of July.

I’m thankful that the meeting for the Council of Advocates of the International Visitors Program which was originally scheduled last Saturday morning was canceled the night before. That saved me from being stranded in the storm.

My nephew, who is working in one of IT companies in Global City, called up late evening Saturday that his boarding house was submerged in water and all his things as well as that of his house mates are gone including their cars.

But we are thankful, they were safe. Their landlady sheltered them.

Yvonne Chua, a colleague in VERA Files and her daughter, swam five blocks in New Manila to get her brother who was trapped on the second floor of his townhouse. Yvonne brought kick board for her brother.

There were many areas not considered flood-prone were submerged under Ondong’s onslaught.

That tells us that our disaster-preparation should include having a ready rubber boat, life jacket, and kick board in our house. Rubber boats should now be a must in companies, just like fire extinguishers in buildings.

And, we should all learn how to swim.

By aiding in the tampering of results of election so that your candidate will be declared even if she was not elected by the people? Or by joining the people who demand accountability from government officials who subverted the will of the people?

This is the question that face the panel trying the 28 officers accused of mutiny for something that did not happen in February 2006 after former AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon claimed “defense of democracy” in his decision to incarcerate the officers even as he continues serve an unelected president.

I caught up with what happened during the court martial hearing last Wednesday through the VERA files video report.

I missed the hearing that I have been following for the three years because I was in Cebu for a sharing session with Cebu journalists on the 2010 elections.

It was my second time to be with Cebu journalists when they had their annual Press Freedom Week. The first time was I think in 2005. I’m impressed with the “friendly competition” among Cebu journalists that make for a healthy and progressive journalism community.

The session I participated was organized by the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists headed by Elias Baquero, who used to be the Cebu correspondent of Malaya during our “mosquito press” years under the Marcos regime.

My Cebu trip was made possible by the Canadian Embassy, which facilitates the participation of Marshall McLuhan fellows in media activities in the country. I was actually a pinch hitter for Glenda Gloria, manager of ANC, who had a more urgent assignment from ABS-CBN management last Wednesday.

The witness in the court martial hearing last Wednesday was Esperon, who is currently the head of the Presidential Management Staff. I understand he was the last witness of the prosecution that is expected to wrap up its presentation in the next hearing.

Esperon’s court appearance has been awaited by the accused who include Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda (his bunkmate in the Philippine Military Academy), Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, and Col. Ariel Querubin.

Esperon was Army chief in February 2006 when the Arroyo administration was shaken by “Hello Garci” tapes where Arroyo was heard talking with then Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano how to make sure that she leads by one million votes.

The name of Esperon was mentioned by Garcillano as one of the generals who were helpful to them as against Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani who was not cooperative with his operators.

The revelations of the role of the military in subverting the will of the people in an election had caused restiveness among members of the armed forces especially the junior officers.

Then AFP chief Generoso Senga ordered the investigation of the aborted plan by some members of the armed forces to join a protest rally on Feb. 24, 2006.

In October 2006, by that time Esperon was already the AFP chief, the investigating panel headed Col. Al Perreras recommended the dismissal of the charge of mutiny (67th Article of War) against all the respondents “for lack of factual and legal bases.”

The panel recommended that the officers be charged with conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman (96th Article of War).

In November 2006, Esperon disapproved the pre-trial investigation report and ordered trial for the 28 officers for the charge of mutiny and conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman.

When the accused were not arraigned after two years, the charge of “conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentlemen” was dismissed.

Last Wednesday was the first time that the accused officer faced their accuser. Vera Files’ Tessa Jamandre described the atmosphere in court as filled with “silent tension.”

Asked what he felt seeing the officers who had been in jail for three years as he had ordered, Esperon replied, “I believe this is all part of my defense of democracy so it is not something hard to do, appearing here as a witness and I will come out with whatever is asked of me in this court and what I should be telling as a witness.”

Esperon is reported to be going into politics in 2010 either as congressman in one of the districts in Pangasinan or senator. His name has also been mentioned as one of those being considered to replace Gilbert Teodoro as defense chief.

Danny Lim, who has announced his plan to run for senator in next year’s election, reacted to Esperon’s claim that his action was in “defense of democracy” because he said the February 2006 incident was agitated by the rigging the results of the 2004 elections with the participation of military generals that included Esperon.

Lim said, “Ang masama nito, kung sino iyong mga kriminal noong 2004 elections, sila ang hindi nakulong. Kami ang mga nagbabayad sa mga kasalanan nila. Ang original sin dito is the 2004 electoral cheating. We are the ones paying the price for the crimes that they did.”

Lim said he would love to sit at the witness stand and tell the court what Esperon did not say during his testimony.

“Sasabihin ko lahat iyong nangyari,” he said, adding that Esperon withheld a lot of information.

I’m glad that Comelec [Commission on Elections] Chairman Jose Melo accepts the possibility that automated elections may not take place in many parts of the country on election day.

Last Wednesday, a week after the Supreme Court upheld Comelec’s claim that the agency is capable of conducting nationwide automated elections despite questions raised by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) regarding the legality of it having skipped the required testing of the contracted system, Melo said, “Aside from preparations for poll automation, Comelec is also preparing for manual elections sa mga liblib na lugar (in remote areas), provinces with no electricity, and [those expected to] have issues in electronic transmission.

“We are ready for manual polls in at least 30 percent or 50 percent of the country as a last contingency measure in case the contingency plans for automation are difficult to implement.”

I don’t know if Melo’s admission of lack of electricity in many areas of the country has something to do with the warning of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes of a power shortage next year, during election period.

Although they lost the battle in the High Court, CCM’s Harry Roque felt vindicated by Melo’s statement.

“That is exactly what I said during the oral arguments. I argued that we can possibly automate only up to 70 per cent without experiencing a grand failure of elections,” Roque said.

The CCM has argued for partial automation that Melo now admits is a distinct possibility, Roque said.

Roque now asks: if only 70 per cent of the May 2010 elections is automated, will that be taken into account in the payment of P7.2 billion to Smartmatic/Total Information System which won the contract to conduct the full, nationwide automated elections?

“If partial automation will be implemented, then the payment to Smartmatic should be reduced accordingly. The Comelec should fix the amount and the terms of refund now, otherwise it will become very difficult to claim the refund if they do it after the election,” Roque said adding that Smartmatic-TIM should be returning between P2.22 Billion and P3.7 Billiion.

Ferdinand Rafanan, head of the Comelec’s legal department, discounts that possibility but if it happens, he said, there would be “penalty under the service level” section of the agreement.

Despite the Supreme Court’s affirmation of faith in the Comelec, the fear of failure of elections lingers.

I believe Comelec when it says that it is impossible for the 80,000 machines to break down on election day. But it doesn’t have to be all the 80,000 machines malfunctioning to create disorder and all sorts of protests.

Rafanan said it is Comelec that will declare failure of elections and the basis are either of the three: no election took place; election was suspended; and election was completed but no proclamation was done because there was no winner.

Rafanan said failure of election could be caused by terrorism, fraud, violence, force majeure, or other or similar incidents.

The fear of failure of election, which comes from the Hello Garci scandal in the 2004 election, is compounded by the possible leadership vacuum that would be created in case no winner is declared by June 30, 2010, the last day of Arroyo in Malacañang.

The order of succession provided by Constitution in case of vacancy in the Presidency is the Vice-President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

All those three positions will be vacant by June 30, 2010 if there would be failure of elections and no winner is declared.

The Senate would be unable to elect a new Senate President due to lack of quorum because there would only be 12 members of the Senate, one of them, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, is even in detention and is not allowed to vote.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has warned that the military and the police might end up taking temporary control of the country if there would be a total failure of elections in 2010 resulting in a power vacuum because at that point, “the only authority that you have are those with guns because they are the most organized people in the bureaucracy.”

That is why, I’m wary with the recommendation of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes for Congress to give Arroyo emergency powers for power shortages that he foresees around election period in 2010.

Gloria Arroyo has not given up.

After failing to change the Constitution that would have legitimized her plan to continue holding on to power beyond June 2010, she is now asking, through the person who installed her to the presidency without election in 2001, to be granted absolute power. The gall!

After Vera Files released the story on the property of the Arroyo brothers, Mikey and Dato, congressman sons of Gloria and Mike Arroyo, I received a lot of letters giving additional information on the family's alleged hidden wealth.

By the way, I am a trustee of Vera Files, a group of journalists that undertakes a deeper look at current issues.

I am one of the four writers of the articles “Arroyo sons acquire US homes, businesses after election to Congress” and “Following the Mikey trail: 2004, 2007 declarations show no campaign contributions.”

One of the letters I got came from an American who is in the finance business. He asked that his identity be withheld. I'll call him “Jay”.

Jay said, “I've been frustrated with this story, because I know Mikey will be protected by his fellow crooks in the House, the crooked Ombudsman, and of course, his crooked mother. When I read about the Reconveyance of Deed on your blog, I realized that Mikey had broken multiple US laws and our justice system will investigate unless pressured not to by the State Department or the White House.”

Jay submitted to the FBI Tips Line and to the Federal National Mortgage Association commonly known as Fannie Mae “a report of likely: mortgage fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and kleptocracy by a foreign government official.”

He requested that his report be forwarded to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN, US Department of Treasury).

Here's part of his letter:

“There is a breaking news story in the Philippines regarding the sons of Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. They have obviously broken several Filipino laws (unexplained wealth, perjury, filing false Statements of Assets and Liabilities, tax evasion, and plunder.) They won’t be prosecuted there because of the corrupt justice system. What caught my attention is that at least one of them is violating multiple US laws with a clever money laundering scheme.

“Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo is the son of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines. After his mother took power, he ran for a seat in the Filipino House of Representatives. His salary is less than $12,000 per year. In 2006, he acquired a $1.32 million property at 1655 Beach Park Blvd. in Foster City CA. There was a $1,056,000 mortgage on the property through IndyMac Bank, which was taken over last year by the FDIC when it failed.

“To qualify for a “stated income” or “liar loan,” he would’ve fraudently claimed an income of at least $275,000 to be able to pay the mortgage, and probably provided fraudulent documents as proof of income. (His salary does not even cover the $14,000 in property taxes due each year.) They also would have falsely claimed to be Permanent Residents or US Citizens on the mortgage.

“A mortgage broker told me that most likely they just lied and said they were US Citizens so as not to produce a Green Card. Remember, he is a foreign legislator and spends most of the year in the Philippines. He also would’ve claimed this as a primary residence when it was really a vacation home. Those IndyBank loan documents should be subpoenaed and reviewed to prove the fraud. He later transferred title to his wife under her maiden name of (Maria) Angela Arroyo Montenegro as way of hiding assets as a lawmaker in the Philippines.”

Jay submitted as background the VERA Files August 31 story on the houses of Mikey and Dato Arroyo in San Francisco.

Jay further said in his letter, “As a foreign government official, Mr. Arroyo could not walk into my office and open a seven-figure brokerage account. I would have to comply with Enhanced-Due Diligence procedures and verify the source of his wealth to comply with section 312 of the Patriot Act. He devised a clever scheme to launder $1.39 million dollars.

“On April 15, 2008, the deed was reconveyed to Angela Arroyo Montenegro. This means they paid off $900,000 in mortgages in two years. Surely they know US banks file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). As far as I know, there is no such reporting for repaying a mortgage early. How does someone who earns $12,000 a year pay off $900,000 in mortgages in two years? His family is notoriously corrupt and it is rumored he receives large cash payoffs from the illegal numbers game “jueteng” from his home province of Pampanga. (Jueteng payoffs led to the impeachment and ouster of former Philippines President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. Mikey’s mother was Vice President and assumed the role of President after Estrada’s ouster.)

“The house is currently for sale. This means that upon the sale of the property, a title company check would be issued for $1.3 million in the name of Angela Montenegro.

“She could walk into almost any US bank and deposit into account and no questions would be asked because it is clearly the proceeds from a real estate sale and 99 percent of people would not know she is the daughter-in-law of the President of the Philippines. The money has successfully been laundered at that point.

“Per the earlier story referenced at www.verafiles.org, his brother Diosdado “Dato” Ignacio Arroyo (also a congressman in the Philippines) paid $570,000 cash for a luxury condominium at 1177 California St., Unit 503, Gramercy Towers Condominium, San Francisco. He claims his father-in-law paid for it, but that should be investigated as well.

“Violations of Section 312 of the US Patriot Act and the US National Strategy to Internationalize Efforts against Kleptocracy.”

Jay provided links to Inquirer and PCIJ websites in supporting his allegation that “President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo are notorious kleptocrats.

For background, google any of the following terms: Jose Pidal, NBN/ZTE Scam, IMPSA bribe, Hello Garci, Joc Joc Bolante, Northrail, NAIA Terminal 3/PIATCO, Jun Lozada, Diosado Macapagal Boulevard,.etc. Even the World Bank issued a report naming Mike Arroyo in shaking down a foreign businessman.”

Jay told the FBI and Fannie Mae, “I don’t have evidence of them breaking US laws, but it is clear that at least Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo should be investigated for mortgage fraud, wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and kleptocracy.”

E-mail:ellentordesillas@gmail.com

Much as Lorelei Fajardo tried to put up an undaunted stance saying her boss, Gloria Arroyo, did not feel threatened by the massive turnout for President Cory Aquino’s wake and funeral, it was obvious it was plain bravado.

Arroyo’s fear of the people was betrayed by the script that they executed when she visited Cory’s wake at the Manila Cathedral early morning of Wednesday, upon her arrival from the United States and a few hours before Cory’s interment.

About two hours before Arroyo arrived, her advance party came.

I saw Mike Defensor, former presidential chief of staff and now chairman of the Philippine National Railways. He was followed by Mai Jimenez, one of those very close with Arroyo whom she installed as a director of the Asian Development Bank.

Later on, Finance Secretary Gary Teves came. Teves was with Arroyo in the US. He was bumped off in the list of seven people who would participate in the Obama-Arroyo talks in the White House for Medy Poblador, undersecretary assigned in the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs.

Poblador, who is more known in the political circles as Arroyo’s “bag woman” because she has been reported to be the source of fat envelopes given to congressmen, members of clergy and persons that Malacañang needs to win over, wanted a photo with Obama.

(By the way, Teves was not the only one removed from the original list of those participating in the meeting with Obama. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro was also bumped off to accommodate Presidential Adviser for Climate Change Heherson Alvarez.)

I’m not sure if Poblador, who had worked in Malacañang during Aquino’s presidency, also came to the Manila Cathedral. No one I asked saw her.

A member of the organization of Former Senior Government Officials related that minutes before Arroyo arrived, a group of what looked like government employees came.

Those who were helping in managing the wake thought they were another usual group of government employees who have been coming to the wake the past three days risking the displeasure of Malacañang. What they did not reckon with was Malacañang’s insecurity and craftiness.

When Arroyo arrived before 4:00 a.m., those pre-positioned government employees clapped. Mga pala pala!

It must have been fear of being booed that Malacañang thought of having their own pala. It was really in bad taste.

The outpouring of grief over Cory’s death, which surprised everybody even the Aquino family, to a large extent, was also the people venting out of their anger over the Arroyo administration’s abuse of power and corruption in all facets of governance.

During the funeral march, I asked people who were chanting “Cory! Cory! Cory!” what they want to do with Arroyo. They immediately changed their chant to “Gloria resign! Gloria resign!”

There were some who shouted, “Bitayin si Gloria! (Hang Gloria!).” I pray we won’t come to the point that we would have to replicate here what happened to the Ceausescus of Romania.

What blogger Phil Cruz should serve as warning to Arroyo and her associates:

“When Cory’s health was gradually waning a few months ago, I was hoping and praying that she would be able to get well enough again to lead the nation in one final battle against Gloria’s schemes to stay in power. I believed that there was no one with the moral force to lead us except her.

“When she passed away, I was devastated. Who will lead us now?

“But it seems her death is the divine answer to the plea of millions like me. Cory will still lead us.. stronger now even in death.

“She has once again reignited the fervor of a slumbering people. I can feel the tremor building up.

“Be afraid, Gloria. Be very afraid.”

In the 10-hour oral arguments at the Supreme Court last Wednesday on the motion of the Concerned Citizens Movement to stop the Smartmatic-Total Information Management agreement with the Commission on Election for the automation of the 2010 elections, counsel Harry Roque anchored his argument on the provision of R.A. 8436 which requires pilot-testing of the system before it is implemented.

R.A. 8436 authorized the Comelec "to use an automated election system or systems in the same election in different provinces, whether paper-based or a direct recording electronic election system as it may deem appropriate and practical for the process of voting, counting of votes and canvassing/consolidation and transmittal of results of electoral exercises:

"Provided, that for the regular national and local election, which shall be held immediately after effectivity of this Act, the AES shall be used in at least two highly urbanized cities and two provinces each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, to be chosen by the Commission: Provided, further, x x x. In succeeding regular national or local elections, the AES shall be implemented nationwide."

Assistant Solicitor General Tomas Larraga and Smartmatic counsel Victor Lazatin argued that the approval of Congress of the P11.3 billion budget for the 2010 automated elections in effect waived the requirement of a pilot test.

From their questions, it could be gleaned that Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Justices Antonio Carpio and Teresita de Castro did not agree with the Larraga and Lazatin.

Carpio elicited from Larraga the admission that pilot testing is for the purpose of knowing if and how the system works because "we cannot afford failure of elections."

When Larraga kept on insisting of the reliability of Smartmatic machines proven by other smaller-in-scale elections in other countries, Carpio asked him: "Supposing you assembled an airplane using a Pratt Whitney engine. Would you and your family fly in it without having it pilot-tested?" Larraga admitted, he would not risk it.

Carpio cited the history of misdelivery of ballot boxes. Since, the computers would be precinct-specific in the 2010 elections, what if the computers for Davao would be brought in Danao, Cebu? Can you imagine the nightmare if many of those computers end up in precincts different from where they were programmed to be? Carpio asked.

Larraga said Smartmatic election system was successful in the elections in Venezuela and Curacao. Justice Leonardo Quisumbing asked, "How do you define ‘successful’? Because it favored the incumbent?"

Quisumbing read a news report in the Miami Herald that, in the Venezuela referendum on whether to lift the term limits of a president, "When the vote finally came, exit polls by New York’s Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates showed (Hugo) Chávez had been defeated 59 to 41 percent; however, when official tallies were announced, the numbers flipped to 58-42 in favor of Chávez. Venezuela’s electoral council briefly posted machine-by-machine tallies on the Internet but removed them as mathematicians from MIT, Harvard and other universities began questioning suspicious patterns in the results."

Carpio said the Venezuela experience can’t be used in the Philippine setting because it was a referendum and there was only one question.

As to the Curacao experience, Carpio asked Larraga if he knew the size of the Caribbean country. The assistant Solgen said he didn’t know.

Well, Carpio said, "the biggest barangay in Makati is bigger than Curacao." So it was just like a barangay elections.

Compare that to the more than 40 million who would be voting in 80,000 precincts spread out in more than 7,000 islands in the country. If the system conks out on Election Day, it would indeed be a nightmare.

Carpio said it is important that the system is tested and proven reliable because what is at stake "is the survival of our democracy."

The first text message I got Saturday morning was from a friend who forwarded a report from his friend in Cotabato City about a bomb that exploded in front of the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in that city.

News reports later said that four were killed while some 50 people were injured. Three of the fatalities were identified namely Ruby Ramirez, 43, of Philippine Trade, Barangay Bulalo in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and owner of the lechon house where the bomb was planted; Prince Salem Cang Diaz, grand son of Patricio Diaz, former editor-in-chief of The Mindanao Cross, a local paper based in Cotabato City; Paulo Kahar.

Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Jess Dureza said, “This is not an isolated case,” referring to a series of bombings the past weeks. He called Saturday's grim incident “murderous act of insanity” and “cowardly act of treachery and violence.”

On June 29, an improvised device exploded by a roadside in Maguindanao, killing two men having coffee in a nearby coffee shop and wounding eight others. On June 20, two grenades exploded at a fiesta celebration in Maasim, Sarangani, killing one person and hurting 32 others.

In Quezon City, on June 28, an improvised device went off at the Office of the Ombudsman compound. The next day, a package containing an improvised explosive was found on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture.

Dureza said that the bomb fragments in Saturday's explosion were similar to those found in the recent bombings, an indication that these were the handiwork of the same group of people.

Who could that group of people be?

AFP Spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner points to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), saying explosion in populated areas is an act of terrorism and bears the signature of the SOG (special operations group) ng MILF."

There are also talk that it's the handiwork of a faction in the Arroyo administration that wants to wrest control of the government before she fades away or immobilized for one reason or another.

This is problem if you have a leader distrusted by the majority of the population. People are ready to believe the most abominable plan attributed to Arroyo because she has a track record of committing dastardly acts never before dared by other presidents, not even Ferdinand Marcos.

Who would ever believe that she could attempt the large scale and brazen subversion of the will of the people in the 2004 elections, from the diversion of public funds to her campaign kitty, to vote buying, to tampering of elections results using the military, to the manufacturing of fake election returns that were substituted to the genuine ERs stored in the Batasan secured by the Philippine National Police Special Action Force.

But she did it. The crime did not stop there because the cover-up continued with buying off members of the House of Representatives to kill the impeachment complaints against her and paying off military officials who cooperated in the cheating with promotions and cushy government positions upon retirement, and giving Comelec officials lucrative government business contracts as payoffs.

It's easy for many of the Filipino people to believe that Gloria Arroyo will do anything to stay in power including creating mayhem.


Arroyo privacy

The appeal of Press Secretary Remonde and deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo for media to respect Arroyo's privacy in the matter of her breast silicon implant showed they didn't grasp the seriousness of the issue.

All that the media and the public wanted was the truth. Until they were pushed to the wall, Remonde kept on lying, even making fun of his boss and the other women who underwent breast augmentation.

He said, “ I mean you can look at her she if she is the type who has a breast implant. Makita n’yo naman kung… halata naman yung mga babae na merong implant o wala. Yung mga sexy actress diyan na malalaki ang boobs, yan ang mga may implant. Di naman natin masasabi kay Presidente ‘yan.”

A few minutes after that statement was aired on TV, he admitted that yes, Arroyo had breast silicon implant in the 1980's. The good news, he said, is that the tests at the Asian Hospital last week showed that “the something” that was seen there is benign.
Dr. Geneve Rivera, secretary-general of the Health Alliance for Democracy scored Remonde for his “irresponsible and sexist remarks” about breast implants.

Rivera said, “Sec. Remonde should just admit the limits of his knowledge rather than make statements based on biased ignorance.”

The HEAD demanded full disclosure of Arroyo's health condition reminding him that it is “the President’s state of health is public domain as it directly affects her capacity to lead and make crucial decisions.”

I’m observing the protests in Iran in awe and with envy.

The protests that have shaken Iran’s theocratic government stemmed from accusations that the June 12 election was a result of “massive and systematic fraud” perpetrated by the winning re-electionist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A government council tasked to investigate the complaints admitted that in some 50 constituencies there were more votes cast than there were registered voters.

The government has clamped down on street and internet protests. The two-week unrest has injured hundreds of people tear -gassed and pummeled by police.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, described by western media as a “popular reformist,” has enjoined the people to assert their right saying “protesting lies and fraud is your right.”

News reports said at least 17 people have been killed including a 27-year-old woman identified as Neda Agha Soltan, who was hit by a bullet during a rally. Neda has become a rallying figure in the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy, which they hoped to achieve through elections.

I marvel at the Iranian’s fervor for democracy even as they adhere to the rigid rule of the ayatollahs. I can’t help but compare the Iranians’ reaction to allegations of electoral fraud to ours when confronted with proofs of Gloria Arroyo’s cheating in the 2004 elections.

More votes than voters? That’s what happens in many provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as Arroyo frantically moved to offset the lead of her rival, Fernando Poe Jr.

One glaring case was in the town of Panguntaran in Sulu where the number of registered voters was 11,080. But the total number of votes cast was 11,468.

In the Panguntaran municipal certificate of canvass, Arroyo had 716 votes while FPJ had 4,252. But in the statement of votes, Arroyo’s numbers became 8,716 while that of FPJ was reduced to 2,252.

This irregularity and many more were raised by the opposition during the congressional canvassing but presiding officers Sen. Francis Pangilinan and then Rep. Raul Gonzalez just relegated them to their infamous “noted.”

The “Hello Garci” tapes showed that Arroyo had a direct hand in the cheating in Panguntaran. In her call to then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on May 29, 2004, Arroyo asked about reports that the opposition had affidavits of teachers and Board of Canvassers that they were forced to tamper with election results.

Garcillano confirmed the fraud: “It’s true na yung nag-appear doon, nabaligtad si FPJ.”

Three days after, Arroyo and Garcillano talked again and he reported, “Kinausap ko na yung chairman of the board sa Sulu. Ang sa akin, pataguin ko na muna yung EO (election officer) ng Panguntaran para hindi sya makatestigo.”

It was in the Panguntaran operations that Garcillano complained to Arroyo that the figures in the certificate of canvass and the statement of votes didn’t match because Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, then the commanding general of the First Infantry Division, did the cheating crudely. “Kasi sila Gen. Habacon ba, hindi masyadong marunong pa d’yan. Nag-explain sa akin ang election officer ng Panguntaran,” Garcillano told Arroyo, who merely said, “Uhhm…”

The Hello Garci tapes were made public in June 2005 and people believed what they heard. Surveys show that majority of Filipinos believe that Arroyo’s presidency was acquired through fraud. A few rallies here and there were held but no outrage in level of February 1986 and Jan. 2001 that resulted in the overthrow of governments.

Emboldened by lack of warm bodies in the streets, which Malacañang interprets as apathy, Arroyo now wants to tamper with the Constitution for her to stay in power beyond June 2010.

It seems that people in power are hard put to resist its corruptive lure and they forget lessons in history.

Thirty years ago, in January 1979, Iranians stunned the world when they drove away the powerful Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

They were responding to the call of the Imam Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, sent through cassette tapes from Paris where he was living in exile, asking them to rise against the extravagant, oppressive and Islam-irreverent regime of the Shah.

Ten months after, on Nov. 4, 1979, angry Iranian students seized the US embassy and held hostage 53 American personnel for more than two years.

Now, the streets of Iran are ablaze again.

As we try to rise from our lethargy, numbed by Arroyo’s destruction of our democratic institutions, we watch Iran sizzle.

The four-month-old Philippine baseline law got its first test last Friday and it failed miserably and embarrassingly.




Last Friday, CNN reported a Chinese submarine collided with an underwater sonar array towed by the destroyer USS John S. McCain off the Philippines.




Other wire reports from Washington D.C. described the location as "off Subic Bay" in Zambales. Chinese media said the encounter was near Scarborough Shoal.



The Philippine government version of the location of the high seas collision, given two days after the incident, was closer to that of China. Defense Assistant Secretary Alberto Valenzuela said "it was 125 nautical miles off Subic, near the Scarborough Shoal, which is 123 nautical miles from Subic."



Under the baseline law, Scarborough shoal is part of Philippine territory classified as a "regime of islands." Inclusion of the shoal in Philippine territory was protested by China, which also claims the shoal as well as the whole of South China Sea.


From the three versions of the location of the collision, it can be concluded that it is in Philippine territory. It can be likened to two quarreling bullies bringing their fight into the front yard a third party, which, in this case, is the Philippines.



What did the Philippines do after seeing the two intruders fighting in its front yard? Press Secretary Cerge Remonde showed his ignorance of the baseline law said the "the two ships were outside Philippine waters."




Someone, please give Remonde a copy of the baseline law and the UNCLOS (United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea) treaty, which the Philippines signed. Underline please the part where maritime regimes or zones are defined: territorial sea (12 nautical miles from the baseline), contiguous zone (24 nm), economic exclusive zone (200 nm), continental shelf (200 nm) and extended continental shelf (350 nm).



Don’t forget to give Remonde a copy of the Philippine Constitution and bookmark Article I, "The National Territory" which says. "The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines."



Valenzuela said there’s nothing to be concerned about because the incident occurred inside the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone but outside the country’s 12 nautical mile territorial waters. "Our concern is that we must be sure that no foreign vessels enter our territorial waters without authority. We cannot prohibit them from passing through (in economic zones)," he said.



Valenzuela is not quite accurate because since the new baseline law classifies Scarborough Shoal as regime of islands, it generates its own territorial and contiguous zones. That means 12 nautical miles from the shoal is still Philippine territorial waters.


By Valenzuela’s description that the incident happened "125 nautical miles off Subic, near the Scarborough Shoal, which is 123 nautical miles from Subic" proves that it was inside Philippine territorial waters which he himself said we should have jurisdiction over any ship in that area.


Harry Roque of Center law Philippines, asks, “What were the Chinese submarine and the American destroyer doing in our waters in the first place?”



The first statement from Philippine Navy spokesman Edgard Arevalo said there was no request for the US for its warship to enter into Philippine waters and that there was no RP-US military exercise that would justify its presence there.



Valenzuela, on the other hand, said the US ship actually came from an exercise between US and the Philippines and passed by Subic to refuel and for other logistics needs before sailing out of Philippine territorial waters.




It is understandable for Philippine officials to downplay the incident because what can they do? Protest the intrusion of the US and China?



One of the four attributes of a state is sovereignty (others are people, territory and government), the supreme right of the state to command obedience within the state.



The incident showed the sad reality that we couldn’t command obedience from intruders in our own territory. Without sovereignty, there is no state. What are we then?

Gloria Arroyo is using the frog formula on the Filipino people in pushing for Charter change and it looks like it is working.

What’s the frog formula?

It is said that if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger because its survival instincts are geared toward detecting sudden changes.

But if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle, it will relish the warmth. Its tolerance level is high as long as it’s gradual. By the time it would realize the danger, it would be too late to jump out of the boiling water.

It would then be turned into a nilagang palaka.

Notice how Arroyo and her cohorts keep on saying that the 2010 elections will push through. Speaking at the formal merger of the two parties that supports her, Arroyo declared, “Cynics and detractors love to paint grim scenarios about a cancellation of the 2010 elections. Let this merger of Lakas and Kampi be tangible proof of the administration’s readiness, nay determination, to help ensure that the elections do push through.”

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, the master election magician, and Gabriel Claudio never tire of talking about 2010 elections. That’s because they know that Filipinos love election.

The masses look forward to elections because it’s the only time that they become important to officials who ignore them once they are elected. It’s a fiesta complete with food, entertainment and money. It’s a safety valve in a highly stressed environment.

A Pulse Asia survey showed that 65 percent of Filipinos are convinced the May 2010 elections will be held as scheduled and believe that there will be much trouble in the country if the elections are not held.

So Arroyo will give Filipinos elections in 2010. The people will have their circus. But it doesn’t mean that the Constitution will not be changed.

Last Monday, with three days left before adjournment, the House committee on constitutional amendments convened an emergency session and approved a resolution to convene Congress, even without the participation of the Senate, into a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution.

The minority in the House led by Rep. Satur Ocampo thought that it succeeded in blocking the railroading of the con-ass resolution when it was sent back to the committee on constitutional amendments. He didn’t reckon with P20 million each incentive promised by Arroyo for the passage of the con-Ass resolution.

The congressmen held an emergency session and approved the con-ass resolution. At 11:30 p.m. of June 2, 2009, the House approved the con-ass resolution.

At the meeting with the foreign correspondents recently, Puno confirmed that Arroyo did meet with the congressmen at the presidential suite of the Manila Hotel after the Lakas-Kampi merger last Thursday and talked about the con-ass resolution. But he denied the reported offer of P20 million each for those who would be voting for it.

Speaker Prospero Nograles, explaining the haste that they are pushing the con-ass resolution, said there are no marching orders from Malacañang. “It’s part of our agenda. We have to get this over with.”

As of this time, debates are ongoing. Voting will be in a while.

After the con-ass resolution, which excludes the Senate in the process of amending the Constitution, is passed, it is expected that someone would question it before the Supreme Court. Arroyo’s operators believe they have the numbers to distort the constitutional provision of three-fourths of Congress to amend the Constitution. Referendum will be in September and as declared by Arroyo, elections will be held in 2010.

It matters little if it will be for members of the parliament or officials in a presidential system. The main feature would be Gloria Arroyo stays in power forever.

We laugh at Arroyo’s “Palaka” (Partido ng Lakas at Kampi) but actually, they are the ones who are having the last laugh. They must be enjoying seeing us boiled in the waters of complacency.

E-mail:ellentordesillas@gmail.com

In my appearance on a television talk show many years ago, I was asked what's my idea of being wealthy, and I replied, “just to have enough money in my wallet to be able to buy a good book I want when I see one.”

I said that because in my struggling days, I would have to save to be able to buy a book I want and by the time I have enough money for it, the book is gone. It was so frustrating.

With credit cards, half of my problem is solved. But there is still the problem of cost. Prices of bookpaper-bound books usually cost about P500. Much higher, up to P1,000 plus, if its hardbound.

At this time of budget scrimping, books usually are the first item to be deleted in the list in favor of the more basic necessities of food, shelter, transport, clothes and cell phone text. Which is a pity because books are nourishment for the mind and soul, which is important to be a productive human being.

That's why the Department of Finance's idea of imposing taxes on imported books is undesirable. It has the effect of depriving the mind of people in the Philippines of food. It's not only destroying the people's wellbeing (what is a person with nothing in his mind) but also the nation's soul.

An article by Robin Hemley, “The Great Book Blockade of 2009” related that the DOF, which is hard-pressed trying to raise funds to sustain Gloria Arroyo's corruption riddled government, came up with this not-so-brilliant idea when a custom examiner named Rene Agulan opened a shipment of the best-selling novel, “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer. Agulan demanded that duty be paid on the books.

That was a violation of the “Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials” which states that the contracting States (that includes the Philippines) “undertake not to apply customs duties or other charges on, or in connection with, the importation of ... books, publications and documents... educational, scientific and cultural materials..”

Last March 24, the DOF issued a clarificatory guideline, which imposes one percent rate of duty on educational, scientific, historical or cultural books and materials or five percent rate of duty for books and materials other than educational, scientific, historical or cultural and “those books or raw materials not to be used for publishing and its related activities.”

I have the feeling that these people in the finance department do not read books. That's dreadful because how does a non-book reading custom official make a distinction which book should have one percent tax or five percent tax?

In a full page open letter to Gloria Arroyo published in newspapers yesterday, members of different book associations said the DOF Order 17-09 not only violates the Florence agreement but also R.A. 8047 or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act.

“The imposition of duty on book importations, no mater how minimal, will increase the cost to our readers, which in turn will fundamentally affect the quality of education, literacy and over-all access to information and knowledge. Our young need to be educated and become literate to a high degree to be competitive in the emerging world market. This requires world-class and world-wide access to information and knowledge through books.”

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) national Commission of the Philippines last Saturday issued a statement objecting to the DOF order.

It noted that “the tax scheme has an inherent anti-poor bias as it is the marginalized sectors that will be most adversely affected by more expensive publications. Taxes on imported books and other publications will definitely widen the 'knowledge divide' between the rich and poor sectors of society and therefore run counter to UNESCO’s vision of building an 'inclusive' society.

“Taxing imported books is tantamount to taxing reading habits. At a time when parents and educators worldwide have expressed alarm on the continuing steep decline in the reading habits and practices especially among the young, the tax measure is counterproductive to current initiatives to rekindle a reading culture. The measure would surely further discourage young and even old minds from appreciating, recognizing and rediscovering the value of reading.,”

The Commission further said that while they recognize the government's need for additional revenues, they should refrain from getting it from imported books “that feed the minds especially of our young generation.”

“ Such action can only succeed in taxing our future,” the Commission said.


E-mail:ellentordesillas@gmail.com

Ang ibig sabihin ng AWOL ay Absence without leave. Nag-absent ka sa trabaho na walang paalam.

Sa military malaking kasalanan iyan at iyon ay paglabag sa Articles of War 58 at 59. Oo nga naman. Biruin mo kung may giyera at biglang umalis ka nang walang paalam. Di maiwan ang mga kasama mo doon na makipaglaban sa kaaway. Court martial ang bagsak ng isang miyembro ng military na nag-AWOL.

AWOL ang ikinaso ng Philippine Navy kay Lt. Nancy Gadian. Maganda ito kasi mabubuhay ang isyu na AWOL ni Maj. Gen. John Martir na magiging Marine commandant sa susunod na buwan daw.

Ang AWOL ni Gadian ay hindi pa umaabot ng isang buwan. Si Martir ay 477 na araw o halos isa at kalahating taon na AWOL! Sumuweldo siya sa buong panahon na yun kahit siya ay nasa Amerika.

May arrest warrant na si Gadian. Hindi kinasuhan si Martir. Na-promote pa ng ilang beses. Kaya nga dalawa na ang estrelya sa kanyang balikat. Paano ngayon ipapaliwanag iyan ng military sa mga sundalo at sa publiko?

Ganyan ang nangyayari kung ang institusyon katulad ng military ay ginagamit para sa pang-personal na interest ng isang pulitiko at sa sitwasyon na ito ay si Gloria Arroyo. Alam naman natin kung paano ginamit ni Arroyo ang military noong 2004 elections sa pandaraya. Kaya lahat ng opisyal na kayang magtakip ng mata sa pambababoy ni Arroyo sa militar ay OK lang. Kahit mag-AWOL katulad ni Martir.

Kapag pinayagan mong bastusin ang batas at patakaran, paano mo ngayon ipatutupad iyan? Iyan ngayon ang problema dito sa kaso ni Gadian na ang ugat talaga ay kurakutan daw ng pera sa Balikatan exercises, ang pagsasanay na ginagawa ng mga Pilipino at Amerikanong sundalo dito sa Pilipinas.

Pinaimbestigahan daw kasi ni Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, dating commander ng Western Mindanao command, si Gadian sa nawawalang P2.3 milyon. Bumuwelta si Gadian at sinabi na ang heneral at iba pang matataas na opisyal ang kumurakot ng halos P40 milyon sa P46 milyon na budget para sa Balikatan noong 2007. At sinabi ni Gadian na ilalabas niya ang dokumento sa tamang lugar at oras.

Pinaiimbestigahan na ni Senator Rodolfo Biazon ang akusasyon ni Gadian. Iimbestigahan din daw ng military ang akusasyon ni Gadian at mismo si AFP Chief Victor Ibrado ang mamumuno ng imbestigasyon.

Ngayon pa lang, sinasabi na ng military na walang nawawala sa P46 milyong budget ng 2007 Balikatan. Na-liquidate raw lahat ang pinalabas na pera. Kaya, AWOL na lang ang kaso ni Gadian.

May balita akong may mga miyembro ng civil society at simbahang Katoliko ang gustong tumulong at kumupkop kay Gadian at ng kanyang pamilya. Sinabi ngayon ni Arevalo na hindi na nila ipapatupad ang warrant of arrest kung kusang babalik si Gadian sa kanilang custody.

Siyempre kapag nasa military custody na si Gadian, hindi na siya pwedeng magsalita. Baka walang mangyari na doon sa napabalitang kurakutan ng P40 milyon.