Political Hodgepodge - Oil Prices, Bolante and Impeachment

With the oil companies dropping their prices dramatically, with a P2 decrease in gasoline and a whopping P5 drop in diesel, the public is probably satisfied, at least for now. However, considering that the price of oil has dropped even further, a few more rollbacks can probably be expected, especially for November. If we accept the oil companies' explanation that they base their prices on the previous month, and the average price of oil in October is probably hovering around $65-70, this is almost a certainty.

Now if the prices of other commodities can go down as well with the drop in gas prices, the public can breathe a little easier as the Christmas season goes into full swing.

* * *

The return of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante has whipped up renewed interest in calls to oust the President. It should be remembered that Bolante is considered to be the major architect in orchestrating the so-called fertillizer fund scam, where either more than P700 million or P3.3 billion, depending on which version one follows, was allegedly rerouted from buying fertillizer and other farming equipment for the farmers to the 2004 campaign of incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies.

Senators, particularly Ping Lacson, are calling for Bolante's arrest on the strength of the warrant issued in 2005. It should be remembered that Bolante fled the country in 2006, and tried to seek asylum in the U.S., only to be rebuffed after two years of court wrangling and was deported back to the Philippines, where he arrived last Wednesday night. Bolante has since been confined at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City.

Bolante's lawyers have responded by filing a petition at the Supreme Court, asking that a temporary restraining order be issued. The lawyers claim that the Senate arrest warrant has no legal standing, as the Agriculture Committee that issued the warrant already concluded its investigation.

While I will concede that the Ombudsman is probably the correct body to investigate Bolante, given the current Ombudsman's close links to the President and her spotty record in investigating corruption cases, I doubt anything substantial will come out of the investigation in terms of nailing down Arroyo for corruption. At the same time, it's possible and likely that Bolante will refuse to implicate the President in the scam. With these factors in play, I doubt that any concrete evidence will come out of such an investigation.

As for the Senate, I'm wondering what will come out of such an investigation led by this body. For those jockeying for position for the upcoming 2010 elections, it'll be another opportunity to grandstand and preen for the media.

Unless Bolante has an attack of conscience, and comes clean on the fund scam, we are not likely to nail down any big fish in the sea of Philippine corruption.

* * *

As for the current attempt to impeach the President, it is likely to fail as did the previous moves. The reason for this is that the President has a solid majority in the House of Representatives, and these honorable (hoch! Ptui!) congressmen have no interest in exploring the issues. They're only interested in how much they will be paid to bury this latest attempt to oust the President. With the President in control of the pork barrel, it will be easy for her to spread the wealth and ensure that she will be able to sit easy on her throne for the next year, until another impeachment complaint is filed.

If I were the opposition, I'd stop these futile impeachment attempts, and instead, concentrate on agreeing to field a single candidate to run against whoever the administration decides to field. This, in itself, is a Gordian knot of a problem, as the opposition has several presidential wannabes. Still, the opposition leaders must find a way to unify the fragments to find one who will be able to take advantage of the simmering discontent against the President.

The main reason why people have not risen up against the President despite the numerous scandals over the course of Arroyo's stay is that the opposition has not presented a viable option for change; how can they, considering their titular head was convicted of plunder? I think people are willing to wait until 2010, when Arroyo has no legal reason for holding on to her post. If Arroyo tries to overstay her welcome, I think that will be the time that the people will rise up and get rid of her.

Cheesesteak For Everyone: Phillies Win!

After waiting for 28 years, the much-maligned Philadelphia Phillies finished the longest game in World Series history, and clinched the championship, winning the game 4-3 over the also-surprising Tampa Bay Rays. With the win, the Phillies won the 7-game Series 4-1.

Game 5 of the 2008 World Series will probably go down as one of the most controversial games in World Series history. First, last Tuesday, the weather was already bad, as it was raining, but it was decided to push through with the game, after an hour and a half delay. By the 5th inning, after the Rays' Carlos Pena singled home B.J. Upton to tie the score at 2, the ground was so wet that it was decided to postpone the game.

When it resumed, the Phillies' Cole Hamels, who went 4-0 for the postseason, was pulled for a pinch-hitter. The Phillies' Geoff Jenkins hit a double and scored on Jayson Werth's popup to take the lead once more, but Rays' outfielder Rocco Baldelli, at the top of the seventh inning, hit a home run to tie the game. In the bottom of the seventh, with the game tied at 3, Pedro Feliz singled home pinch runner Eric Bruntlett to put the Phillies ahead for good. Reliever Brad Lidge, who was perfect in saving games 47 times this year, got his 48th save to keep the streak going and to clinch the championship.

It was a happy day for a city whose last major championship was basketball's 76ers in 1983. The Phillies' last appearance in the Series was in 1993, when the Toronto Blue Jays took advantage of Mitch Williams' meltdown to win the championship then. Now, the people of Philadelphia have a good reason to celebrate.

As for the Rays, well, they're young and hungry enough to be able to make a run a return engagement next year.

Belated Endorsement

With less than a week to go before the U.S. presidential elections on November 4, both the Democratic and Republican candidates have been campaigning furiously at gather votes for their side. Senators Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and John McCain (R-Arizona)

For the longest time, I have resisted writing about this issue, mainly because it's been difficult to make a clear, informed choice. At the onset, I immediately sided with Obama, mainly because of my dislike of the current Republican president Bush. I was also attracted to Obama's message of hope, something I feel has been missing from both the U.S. and the Philippines.

After giving it some thought, I'm also okay with his idea of redistribution of wealth, which has become a rallying point for the Republican Party, using it a la Joe McCarthy to instill fear in the voting public. But, what exactly is wrong with the idea of redistributing the wealth? Other countries have done it and prospered. My friend Katz's post on the topic has a lively discussion ongoing;

However, I am less attracted to Obama because of his stance on abortion. Of course, it's also the liberal Democratic stance, but it is something that I cannot agree with. Contraception, I think, is one thing, but terminating the life of a fetus in the womb is reprehensible to me. His comment about his daughters and how he wouldn't want them 'punished with a child' if they made a 'mistake' is as pro-abortion as anything.

I am also a little worried about Obama's obvious lack of experience on the job, although one might say that, since he's not yet 'captured by the system', Obama may actually be able to propose some innovations that 'experienced' politicians might not have thought of. Besides, we've seen the work of 'experienced' politicians here in the Philippines, and I can't say that I'm impressed at their efforts.

As for the Republican candidate John McCain, while he has toiled mightily to distance himself from the incumbent President, he cannot deny that he and Bush come from the same political party, and, as such, he and Bush would share some of the same ideals. Some of these ideals are the reason why the U.S. became reviled by people around the world. He cannot distance himself from Bush enough to make himself out to be totally different. Because of this, John McCain is probably going to pay the price for Bush's mistakes.

His choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate was an off-base decision, and it shows in the way Palin has acted during the campaign. Aside from toiling under Bush's legacy, McCain now has another problem. Considering his advanced age (should he win, he would be the oldest elected President), if he should die during his term, then Palin becomes President. Having seen her in action, she has even less experience than Obama, and she acts as if she's been heavily coached. How will Americans react if Palin becomes President? Your guess is as good as mine.

What I also don't like about the McCain campaign is that it has focused almost completely on bashing Obama: calling into question his credentials, his ideals, and his suitability for being the President. The problem here is that a lot of it isn't based on fact; it's just based on playing on people's fears, something the Republicans are adept at.

In the end, I would have to say that I favor Obama, although with reservations. At this point, I'm just hoping that all of his talk has substance behind it, because if it was all just empty rhetoric, then heaven help us.

Whatever happens, like a lot of people, I'll be keeping an eye on things as the penultimate day approaches. I probably won't be blogging about it much after this, though; there's already too much noise in the air.

The Mathematics of Oil

I’d always been wondering about the current state of gas prices, and how our prices differ from those in the U.S. So, I did some checking, and this is what I found.

Before anything, though, keep in mind that gas is measured by the gallon in the U.S., while gas in the Philippines is measured in liters. So one gallon, I’d found out, is equivalent to roughly 3.785 liters.

According to this website, when oil was trading at its peak of $147 per barrel, the average price of gas in the U.S. was $4.10 per gallon, which translates to P47.66 per liter (using a peso-dollar conversion of P44:$1); during the same period, gas in the Philippines was sold at P60 per liter, or a difference of P12.30.

Now, however, with oil prices dropping to $61 due to the current global economic crisis, gas in the U.S. is being sold at an average of $2.656 per gallon, or roughly P33.68 per liter (using a peso-dollar conversion of P48:$1). With gas currently being sold here at an average of P47.07, it’s a whopping difference of P13.39, which means that our oil companies have a lot of explaining to do.

Of course, the oil companies’ mouthpieces will probably parrot the same line that it’s not that simple to compute, that there are other factors involved. If that’s the case, then I hope that they share with the public what arcane formula they’re using to justify their charging what appear to be bloated gas prices. From where I stand, without that formula, the oil companies appear to be exploiting the situation to make huge profit.

Unfortunately, due to the Oil Deregulation Law, there is little that we or the government can do to force the oil companies to lower their rates. The oil companies are free to set whatever price they want ; the only possible brake for their greed is concern and compassion for the buying public. But, sadly, that doesn’t seem to exist, as it appears that based on the way the companies raise or lower the price of gas, some collusion is going on, considering that the companies set their prices at the same time, and the difference between companies’ prices is little to none at all.

What Congress needs to do is to review the Oil Deregulation Law, and see how the oil companies can be made to moderate their greed. Perhaps Senator Juan Ponce Enrile can make good his threat to impose a windfall tax on the companies, so that they may be forced to lower prices to what seems to be the realistic rate.

The 'Euro Generals' Scandal: Unanswered Questions

With the draft Senate Committee report on the ‘euro generals’ scandal already in the newspaper, we are still left with nagging questions unanswered by the committee hearings:

1. If there was nothing illegal in what they did, why didn’t retired Philippine National Police (PNP) general Eliseo de la Paz appear before the Senate Committee chaired by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago?

2. Why was de la Paz the one entrusted with the money, considering that he was already retired? For that matter, why were the attendees of the Interpol conference police generals already close to retirement? Shouldn’t younger police officers have been sent, so that their expertise would not be lost to retirement so soon?

3. Why did de la Paz bring the money in cash form? Couldn’t he have wired the money? Bringing it in actual cash brings forth the question of illegal doings, as it is possible that the real reason was to make sure no paper trail was left.

4. Why was the money slowly converted, part by part, into euros at a small moneychanger? Where did the moneychanger get all of those euros? Why all of the secrecy?

5. Why the constant changing of stories? First, it was a ‘contingency fund’, and then it transformed into a ‘cash advance’. I think the most recent incarnation is that of an ‘intelligence fund’. Is the PNP brass seeing which story will be the most plausible?

It didn’t help that newly installed PNP chief Jesus Versoza looked both lost and evasive during the Senate committee hearing. It gave me the impression that a cover-up was in the making. It’s too bad, considering that Versoza hit the ground running, giving the public the impression that he was serious about cleaning up the PNP. Now, however, it looks like whatever initial gains he has made have been obliterated by this scandal.

The ‘euro generals’ scandal is a black mark on a police force in dire need of a clean image. It reinforces in our mind the image of the corrupt police officer. With that sort of image, how can we trust our policemen to actually serve and protect the citizenry?

* * *

I thought that police escorts were banned except for the President and the Vice-President. Last Saturday I saw no less than three convoys bullying their way through the traffic. There was a even line of about nine or ten police cars speeding down EDSA with their sirens blaring; it was a scene straight out of “Smokey and the Bandit” or “Blues Brothers”. Perhaps when the current PNP scandal is resolved, PNP chief Versoza can take a look at these convoys, and put a stop to this sort of preferential treatment.

Consumer Watch: Erroneous Math Ad, Revisited

It looks like those behind the Enfakid ad took the criticism against its erroneous equation seriously.

Last Friday and today, two Enfakid ads were released. Last Friday, on the back of the first section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer was the ad with the erroneous equation, but this time, the answer of "14" was crossed out with a yellow crayon, corrected with a "5", and it included the inscription "Dad, I win."

It appears that publishing that correction was not enough, or maybe people were wondering why the correction was needed, because on pages E-2 and 3 of today's Inquirer edition, a more detailed solution to the equation was published, still in the same yellow crayon marking.

It's nice to see that the company takes its product seriously, that it would spring for the money to pay for two full-color ads in order to correct a mistake.

Of course, if whoever was in charge of the first ad did his or her job right, the corrections would be totally unnecessary, and would've saved the company a lot of money.

EDSA Tragedy: The Sorry State of Traffic Enforcement

Why does it have to take a tragedy to get people to focus on a problem?

In this case, it had to take the death of a member of a prominent medical family to cast light on the woeful traffic situation on EDSA, one of Metro Manila's main roads.

Dr. Francisco Sarabia, grandson of the first Philippine optometrist and one of the owners of the Sarabia Optical chain, burned to death early Tuesday morning after his car was hit by a speeding bus. The bus, belonging to the Joanna Jesh busline and driven by a certain Martinito Madrid, was racing along EDSA with another bus from the same company, when it hit Dr. Sarabia's car in the rear. Due to what investigators attribute to a freak spark, the car's fuel tank appears to have exploded, causing the death of Sarabia, and injuring three other persons.

It was discovered later that Madrid, who fled the scene only to surrender later to the police, had other violations, which resulted in physical injuries. If this was the case, why wasn't his license already suspended? Why was he allowed to continue driving?

The EDSA tragedy highlights the poor level of traffic enforcement on Metro Manila streets. Even after the accident, the news cameras of ABS-CBN captured buses still hurtling down EDSA during the wee hours of the morning, often without regard to other vehicles. Who's to blame for this situation?

Already, blame is being laid at the feet of Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, who had said earlier during a budget hearing in Congress that there was no speed limit on EDSA and had even encouraged drivers to go faster on EDSA. He was subsequently corrected by Angelito Vergel de Dios, the executive director of the MMDA Traffic Enforcement Center, who said that there were existing speed limits on EDSA.

Fernando, who has repeatedly declared his intention to run for the Presidency in 2010, was on television last night, and he tried to deflect the issue of speeding by saying that the accident occurred more because the bus moved out of the yellow lane. He also tried to give the excuse that the driver might even claim that he was moving at a slower speed.

Perhaps Fernando should read the witness reports, which stated that Dr. Sarabia's car spun around due to the impact of the bus' hit. How can Madrid have been driving at a slow speed if this is what happened? It seems to me that Fernando is simply trying to shift blame away from his agency. But the tragedy along EDSA probably could've been avoided had the MMDA been vigilant.

More than the MMDA's failure to manage the traffic, however, what causes traffic accidents are undisciplined drivers and the lack of traffic enforcement. If anything, that's what caused Dr. Sarabia's death last Tuesday.

What is needed is a more comprehensive traffic enforcement program, wherein drivers are strictly tested for their driving competency, and the enforcers are well-trained and well-versed in enforcing existing traffic laws. In addition, technology such as radars to peg a vehicle's speed should be provided, in order to strengthen arrests of overspeeding drivers. If these measures are implemented (and, given the way issues die out after a few days, that's a big if), then we might see some sanity on our main thoroughfares in the future.

Consumer Watch: Math Ad

One of my co-teachers pointed out something wrong in an ad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today. On page D-3 of today's edition was a one-and-a-half page full-color ad for Enfakid. On the fold covering half of the page was the sum 9 + 5 = 14. But upon opening the fold, one will see the equation 9 + 5 x 2 - (7 x 2) = 14, with the ad claiming that Enfakid will help nourish the brain.

Unfortunately, whoever made the ad probably didn't consult a math teacher. If one follows the PEMDAS (parentheses, exponent, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) hierarchy, the actual answer is 5. Check it out.

To correct the equation, it should read (9 + 5) x 2 - (7 x 2) = 14 or 9 + 5 x 2 - (7 x 2) = 5.

Whoever made this ad is going to be in hot water. Because of the erroneous equation, how can one believe that Enfakid will be effective?

Rays Prevail

Last year, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays sported an unsightly 66-96 record.

This year, with the "Devil" dropped from the team nickname, the Rays won 97 games, and are heading to the World Series, after finally putting away a feisty Boston Red Sox team in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, winning the penultimate game, 3-1.

Of course, it could have gone in a different direction, especially after the Red Sox won game 5, 8-7, mounting a terrific comeback from a 7-0 deficit. The Red Sox were trying to come back from a 3-1 series deficit for the third time in five years; the past two times, they won the World Series. But, the Rays, behind Game 7 starter Matt Garza, hung tough, and gritted out a win to propel them to the World Series to face the Philadelphia Phillies, another team with loss issues.

What's interesting is that, with its Game 7 win today, all of the post-1990 teams have now made it to the World Series, with the Florida Marlins winning in 1997 and 2003, the Arizona Diamondbacks winning in 2001, the Colorado Rockies getting swept by the Red Sox last year, and now, the Rays. Will the Rays go the way of Florida and Arizona, or will they join the Rockies in losing?

It's a toss-up. The Phillies line-up is packed with power hitters, with some outstanding pitching. The Rays have some power and solid pitching, but they do seem focused on winning. Even if the matchup isn't that dramatic, as I'm sure that some were rooting for a Dodgers-Red Sox, or an all-Chicago Series, the World Series will be played by two teams that have a history of losing, and are finally getting the chance to redeem themselves and bask in championship glory.

Political Hodgepodge

In the past few weeks, the price of oil has dropped to half of its peak value this year, from $147 to about $75, a drop of about $69, or P3312. But our oil companies have only dropped prices by P12, from P60 to P48.

As a consumer, I’m not aware of what complex computation the oil companies use to justify their keeping prices, but, it seems to me that the oil companies are colluding to keep prices from going down in order to make a lot of profit. Their so-called “under-recoveries”, to me, seem as if they’re simply keeping their profit margins to a level comfortable to them.

It’s possible that they will use the excuse that the peso’s value is dropping, from a high of about P40 to its current state at P48. It’s also possible that company executives will point out that their companies bought their stock when it was still high-priced; Alex Magno, in his column today, mentions that one company is holding on to stock bought at P130.

If that’s the case, then why did the oil companies raise prices just as the oil prices were going up? Considering that they bought that stock at a lower price, why jack up prices as they were just going up? Secondly, the peso depreciation is small compared to the drop in oil prices. Do these factors explain the current situation? No, it seems apparent that the oil companies, like any capitalist, are trying to get the best profit from this situation, at the expense of the common consumers.

Unfortunately, due to the deregulation of the oil prices, there is little that the government can do to force the oil companies to bring down the price of this basic commodity. Perhaps our lawmakers should amend the Oil Deregulation Law to put some control over how much profit the oil companies make off the common consumer.

* * *

With the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as unconstitutional, the government mouthpieces have been parroting the line that since the MOA-AD wasn’t signed, there need not be any fuss, because the whole issue is “moot and academic”.

However, in the future, government negotiators should be more circumspect about the agreements that they enter into, and make sure that any future agreements conform to the requirements of the Constitution.

As for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) officials, their pronouncement that they will only negotiate based on the tenets of the MOA-AD only shows that they are unfit to negotiate for peace. The government would do better by simply dealing with the Mindanao communities directly, and push for continued development of the war-torn areas.

* * *

The recent trip of the Philippine National Police (PNP), wherein their comptroller was detained in Moscow for carrying an equivalent of P7.5 million in euros is an example of the government’s corruption. How can the PNP chief justify bringing such an amount on a trip, when there is a global financial crisis, and majority of Filipinos are living in poverty? He can’t.

While the Ombudsman is set to investigate the matter, it would also be a good idea to investigate our Congressmen, who are fond of junketing at the taxpayer’s expense.

Idiot of Justice

One has to wonder whether Raul Gonzalez is making up for lost time from his kidney transplant, as he’s managed to keep himself in the media focus with one stupid statement after another.

Last Thursday, he castigated the Hultmans for being angry about their daughter’s murderer’s release, saying that they had amnesia and that they were “hypocrites”. Yesterday, he was quoted in the newspaper stating that rich and prominent convicts had to be separated from other convicts because inmates have a tendency to “kill each other”.

What a sweeping stupid statement coming from no less from the Justice Secretary. Does he even know what the definition of justice is? Now, the very inmates that he’s talking about are up in arms over what he said. The inmates say that, on the contrary to what the Secretary said, the rich inmates actually have the power to order the death of another inmate, as it is they who have the resources to make it happen. Also, the inmates are offended by Gonzalez’s words, daring him to cite instances when inmates last killed each other.

The various statements that he has issued over his stay as Justice Secretary are indications that Raul Gonzalez has no business being Justice Secretary, and, thus, his only honourable recourse is to either apologize, or resign. It is only sheer arrogance on the part of Gonzalez that he hasn’t yet resigned for being such an idiot, and it is the height of insensitivity of this government to keep this idiot in his current position.

Slightly New Look

I finally had time to do some tinkering, and I've done some upgrading of my blog's look. Hope you readers like it. As always, I'm open to suggestions.

With the statistics of the archives now posted, I noticed that it's been a rather lean year of posting for me. Ah, well, when one is busy, one is busy. I do plan to do some catching up as the year comes to an end. For one thing, with this post, I'm only 20 posts away from post 800, so there's a nice tidy sum for which to aim. Of course, I'm not just going to post for the sake of reaching the number (this post excluded, of course). I'll still post the same quality of post (for better or for worse) as I approach this milestone.

It's not like there's a dearth of topics to write about. In the current events scene, which is one of my primary concerns, there's the current flap about Claudio Teehankee Jr's release, which I've already written about, there's the current world financial crisis, although I'm not sure if I'll write about it, as finance and economy are not my fields of expertise, and there's the reproductive health bill currently pending in Congress, of which I'm reading about in order to understand the issue. There's the upcoming U.S. presidential elections this November and our own presidential elections in 2010, of which the various players are making their opening moves; expect a handicapping of that race sometime in the near future. In short, I'm only really limited by time and desire. I can reach that milestone if I really want to.

So, here's to some serious blogging en route to post 800.

Two Types of Justice/Injustice Secretary Strikes Again

The Philippine Daily Inquirer on its front page yesterday proved that, in our country, there are two types of justice that are applied: one for the poor, and one for the rich.

On its front page were several photos of the posh living quarters that convicts Romeo Jalosjos and Claudio Teehankee Jr stayed in while they were incarcerated in the National Bureau of Prisons compound. Inside the room were various luxuries and amenities that a lot of our countrymen who aren’t criminals would not be able to afford even after years of toil. How can government officials say that rehabilitation for these people has occurred even though these criminals were provided with all the amenities of good living? How can the government say that there is justice when rich prisoners can have all the space they need, while poor prisoners have to be packed like sardines?

In addition to this, despite their monstrous crimes, criminals such as Jalosjos and Teehankee were pardoned by the President and set free, almost in defiance of the victims and their relatives. Given the fact that Teehankee’s brother Manuel is currently a government official, the common perception is that some strings were pulled in order to make this release a reality. Given the attitude of this administration, that perception isn’t so farfetched.

At the same time, the sheer arrogance of these government officials in defending their indefensible actions is unbelievable. For one, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, whose previous stint as MILF peace negotiator gave us the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, tries to spin the situation by saying that Teehankee hadn’t been pardoned; his sentence was merely commuted, and, because of this, given his length of incarceration, he has already served his time. He also tries to label the situation as a ‘rich vs rich’ situation, saying that that was the reason it was given a lot of media focus.

Never mind, of course, the nature of Teehankee’s crime. Never mind the fact that Teehankee killed a 16-year old girl, along with one of her companions, in cold blood, and wounded her other companion. As for the serving of the sentence, it should be remembered that Teehankee was meted 2 life sentences; in real terms, that’s 80 years. By having his sentence commuted, he would barely have served a fourth of the total sentence. Is that justice?

More than Dureza, however, Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, symbolizes the government’s insensitivity to the victims and their relatives, and, despite this, he is probably one of the officials with the longest tenure in this administration.

His latest statement was to call the Hultmans ‘hypocrites’ and ‘suffering from amnesia’ as he claimed that the Hultmans were informed about the release, and that they had signed a document which stated that they would not contest the pardoning of Teehankee.

First of all, while it is true that the listing of Teehankee as one of the persons to be pardoned was published in the newspaper, if the government was truly sensitive to the victims’ families’ plight, it should take it upon itself to inform the families directly; it may be legally defensible, but it’s doesn’t seem like a moral action.

Secondly, it’s possible that the Hultmans simply signed the document in order to move on, and trusted that no President in his or her right mind would pardon Teehankee. Presidents Aquino, Ramos, and Estrada didn’t touch the case. But then again, the Hultmans didn’t foresee the coming of President Arroyo, who must be setting a record of sorts for pardoning everything except the kitchen sink.

I do not know what pull Gonzalez has for holding on to his post, despite the fact that he has defiled and debased his Cabinet position countless times; his latest comments about the Hultmans is only one of many a stupid statement he has made as Justice Secretary. Does he have some inside knowledge about the President’s doings, that he cannot be fired, lest he spills the beans? Or is his staying in his position a calculated move in order to deflect criticism away from the President?

Teehankee’s release is yet another log on the smouldering fire of discontent against the Arroyo administration. The President continues to have luck on her side, however, as the Filipino people have not yet seen anyone who is virtuous enough to replace her; otherwise, had that person been found, she would have been lynched ages ago. Instead, people are simply waiting for her to step down in 2010. But, with idiots like Dureza and Gonzalez speaking on her behalf, she had better be ready for the backlash once she does step down.

Beg Pardon

It’s amazing how many notorious criminals have been pardoned under the Arroyo administration. From Norberto Manero to Joseph Estrada to Pablo Martinez (one of Ninoy Aquino’s killers) to Romeo Jalosjos, the President has exercised her executive prerogative to pardon criminals to the point of abuse. I can’t think of a time (post-EDSA, that is) wherein so many prominent wrongdoers have been released and forgiven of their crimes.

What makes the situation worse is that the President seems to pardon without the guilty party actually being sorry for his or her crimes. Former President Joseph Estrada didn’t even see the inside of a Bilibid prison cell, as he was pardoned almost immediately as he was convicted of the heinous crime of plunder.

Now, comes the case of Claudio Teehankee, Jr, who shot and killed 16-year old Maureen Hultman, and her companion on July 13, 1991. Teehankee was recently pardoned and released under a cloud of secrecy. No matter how the President’s henchmen will spin it, it appears clear that there was some skulduggery performed in order to facilitate Teehankee’s release. Neither the parents of Maureen, nor Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, who was the lead prosecutor on the case were informed about Teehankee’s impeding release.

It seems unfair that considering that Teehankee was sentenced to life imprisonment, which has a maximum span of 40 years, and yet he only spent 14 years in prison. While the President’s henchmen claim that the Hultman family accepted the indemnity of Teehankee, and that the family did not object to the granting of clemency to their daughter’s killer, the recent statements of Vivian and Anders Hultman belie those claims.

It was sickening to see Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzalez (who’s been pretty quiet recently) smirking and sneering as they explained how they managed to pull off the release, secure in the knowledge that no legal recourse or redress could be taken by the victims’ families. The sheer arrogance of their demeanor gives credence to the perception that Teehankee’s release was due to the fact that he comes from a prominent family; his father was Chief Justice during the Aquino administration, and his brother is currently the country’s representative to the World Trade Organization.

What I notice when our government officials speak up to defend their actions, they always say that there is nothing legally wrong with what they have done. Rarely do I hear them talk about the moral dimension of their actions. What may be legal may not necessarily be moral. Of course, it's been a long while since our government officials let themselves be bothered by morals.

Listening to Vivian Hultman express her dismay and rage, it's clear that some deception was involved in Teehankee's release. The Hultmans weren't even properly informed about the release, and, had they been notified, they would probably have expressed their opposition to the release of their daughter's killer.

Unfortunately, the President’s power to pardon is absolute, and nothing can put Teehankee back behind bars, unless, of course, he commits some new crime. It’s probably a good thing that the Hultmans decided to leave the country for the stepfather’s native Sweden; at least they’re spared most of the media circus that is currently focusing on the case.

One has to wonder who else can look forward to an early release, courtesy of executive clemency, and which victim's family will undergo the same despair that the Hultmans have undergone. With a government that seems more bent on favoring the rich and famous, unfortunately, anything's possible.

MMDA Madness Continues

One has to wonder what goes through the minds of the people of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as they continue to tinker with the traffic situation on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.

Once more, without any prior warning or traffic advisory, the MMDA closed access to Ateneo's Gate 2 to those coming down from the Katipunan-Aurora flyover. Henceforth, drivers coming from the White Plains/C-5 area will have to go all the way to Gate 3 in order to enter the campus.

Yesterday was when it started. The line of concrete and orange plastic barriers extended past Gate 2, although the MMDA enforcers left a slot open, whether to allow those coming from underneath the flyover to exit to Katipunan, or to allow those coming from the flyover to access Gate 2 was not clear. Whatever the reason, by the time I reached Gate 2 coming from the Santolan U-turn, I made sure to stay on the leftmost lane so that I wouldn't be caught in the jam, but it was still slow going getting to Gate 3 and back to the grade school.

Today, when they closed even that slot, it was heavy traffic going to Gate 3, as all of the flyover traffic was attempting to funnel into Gate 3.

I wonder if the MMDA has something going with the oil companies, to force us to travel an extremely long roundabout route to get into the Ateneo. All in all, the winding way to the grade school, from the Santolan flyover to the Gate 3 and back to the grade school adds about 7-8 extra kilometers to my travel time. That's roughly 1 extra liter of gas that I would have to factor into my gas budget everyday; at the current bloated price of P50 per liter, that would be an extra P250 a week in order to cope with the situation.

What makes the situation worse is that there is no attempt to inform the public about these abrupt changes to the traffic management in Katipunan Ave.

Tomorrow, I will attempt to go underneath the flyover, to inch my way to the grade school, to see if that route will be easier on my time and gas.

But, I do wish that the Ateneo community speak up about the situation. We have to let the MMDA, its officials and its popularity- and election-hungry chairman know that what they are doing to the Katipunan area is unacceptable, and that they should find a better solution to this situation.

CA Mess - Epilogue

Last Friday, a letter from Court of Appeals Justice Mario Guarina III was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s letter section. In the letter, he speaks his sympathy for the dismissed Justice Vicente Roxas, and insinuates that Roxas was merely a sacrificial lamb to address the perceived corruption in the Court of Appeals.

Perhaps Justice Guarina should read the findings of the Supreme Court panel convened to investigate the CA mess. While Roxas was not involved in the bribery case of Justice Sabio, he was clearly found by the panel to have been discourteous and dishonest. He was also found to have acted in undue haste in coming out with his decision, which unduly favored Meralco. The Supreme Court found enough evidence existed to warrant Roxas’ dismissal.

It should also considered that Roxas wasn’t all that pure to begin with, having been fined P15,000 for having violated the Code of Judicial Conduct in a recent case. It should have been that Roxas should have learned his lesson from that experience. But it appears that such was not the case.

I’m not sure what compelled Guarina to send his letter to the press, instead of expressing his discontent to his presiding justice, or even to the Supreme Court.

What I am sure about is that it is bad form to criticize one’s place of work in public. In doing so, Guarina demonstrates contempt for the processes which govern his line of work. Perhaps if he sympathized with Roxas that strongly, then he should have resigned and criticized to his heart’s content. With his letter, however, he shows that the Court of Appeals has a long way to go before it can rehabilitate its tarnished image.

Ateneo Idiot

Trust an Ateneo alumnus to screw up what was supposed to be a grand celebration.

I was dismayed to learn that, during the bonfire last Tuesday which celebrated the wins of the Ateneo men’s basketball team, the junior basketball team, and the grade school’s basketball team, someone, either an alumnus or student, had written down the names of the La Salle men’s basketball team on wooden planks, and included them in the bonfire.

It was an act of pure malice and hubris, and a total disregard of the value which the Ateneo stands for. As a result, I understand that Ateneo president Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ, had to apologize to the La Salle community.

It’s not the first time Ateneo alumni have demonstrated behaviour more juvenile than the current Ateneo students. When top high school basketball player BJ Manalo made his fateful decision to transfer to La Salle, he was roundly vilified by the alumni and students, although I continue to believe that the alumni fanned the flames. This was supported by the fact that they were the ones who unfurled an insulting banner questioning Manalo’s character during the first Ateneo-La Salle match where BJ played; school officials promptly ordered that it be taken down. But the damage, minimized though it was, was already done.

Sadly, actions such as the burning are small considering the perfidies committed by those in our government and society who claim to be Ateneans. But, it’s still something that must be addressed, if we are to impress on our Atenean youth how important the school’s values are.

In my classes, I try to hammer into my students that, as Ateneans, they are compelled to live up to the values that the school emphasizes; otherwise, they have no right to call themselves Ateneans, if all they’re after is the right to boast that they are Ateneans.

Whoever these alumni were, they displayed the fact that they are not, in fact, Ateneans. I hope they’re man enough to come out and apologize for their juvenile behaviour.

UPDATE: A friend of mine e-mailed me the letter of Fr. Nebres, and the letter of the perpetrator. It turns out that it’s a rather prominent Ateneo alumnus whom I’ve encountered in the past. It doesn’t surprise me that he was the one who did it.

The wording of his apology was peculiar, though:

Secondly, I sincerely apologize to you for the queasy situation you are in as a result of the backlash it created.

While the nature of this letter is a personal apology to you, please feel free to extend it to parties you may deem fit to receive it.

The alum is referring to Fr. Nebres as he makes his apology. Now why does he ask Fr. Nebres to be the one to extend it to others? Why can’t he be man enough to admit that he had committed a mistake? If he was truly sincere, he should apologize to the La Salle community for insulting them, and to the Ateneo community for tarnishing the school’s reputation for his juvenile act. Hopefully, if he’s truly an Atenean, then we’ll see his apology soon.