Corruption in the Philippines: Any Ray Of Hopes?
Romulo Neri may be forced to tell the Supreme Court about his talks with President Gloria Arroyo about the broadband deal. That issue has sparked calls for the President to resign, which was repeated during Mass at the University of Santo Tomas attended by former President Cory Aquino (third from left) and Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. (to her left). -- Photo By Rene Dilan.
By Johnny M. Pecayo
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, MANILA-U.S. TIMESSa mga nagtatanong, kung may pag-asa pa ba ang Bansang Pilipinas, isa lang ang aking kasagutan. Meron, at malaki. (To those asking if there is still hope for the Philippines, I have only one answer. There is, and it’s a huge one).
Are we that desperate to reach to this level of hopelessness?
With the recent revelations made by whistle-blower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, former president of Philippine Forest Corporation, before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, and the distinguished members of the Philippine Senate, where Jun Lozada stood firm with his testimonies about the highly controversial NBN-ZTE deal, one can guage that if there are still people, like Lozada, who is brave enough to put his life on the line with gallantry and integrity for and on behalf of the Philippines, then there would be not only a ray, but many rays, of hope for our beloved Motherland, the only one we have.
It was learned from public records, in a sworn statement issued by another credible witness, Eng’r. Madriaga, that the aborted $330-million national broadband network project’s, original cost was $50 million dollars only. How it allegedly ballooned to $329 million is a big question mark that triggered this in-depth investigation.
At the height of the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation, Filipinos all over the world share their adrenalin whenever Lozada speaks the truth, when he fights for the majority of the Filipino people who cry along with him as he bravely weeps infront of TV cameras.
Jun, like any ordinary mortals, never knew that he had it in him. It suddenly just pops out as the investigators continued peppering him with questions he could never imagined would be asked of him, then he realizes his inimitable ability to move forward without fearing for his life, as well as for the immediate members of his family. He always had a strong pair of lungs and a brave heart that can take extreme pressure, which got him his nickname, “the whistle-blower.” He knew that he could blow people away, with the veracity of his words and his integrity in tact.
Lozada’s revelations were not sufficient to make the Philippine economy rebound in a day. Neither will the Philippine political problems be solved in just one click, but definitely, such revelations have opened a can of worms, courtesy of those who do nothing but squander the nation’s most precious resource.
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales is pictured above with Johnny Pecayo, who coordinated the Cardinal's official visit to Los Angeles.
South Rail Project, TransCo and Cyber Education
It was reported that the Senate Blue Ribbon committee will look into the $932-million South Rail project after it finishes the inquiry into the national broadband controversy. Also waiting in the wings are the TransCo and Cyber Education Project investigations.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the committee chairman, said he has only one witness for the South Rail controversy so far, not enough to immediately start the investigation. Besides, he added that the blue-ribbon panel is still busy with the broadband issue.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson had filed a resolution calling for a Senate inquiry into the South Rail project after broadband witness Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. testified that it was among the graft-ridden projects that had escaped public attention.
Lozada identified Anthony Hwang and a certain “Mallari” as the alleged Malacañang intermediaries who worked for the approval of the project. Abalos of the SouthRail project,” Lozada said, referring to resigned Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. of the Commission on Elections whom he had alleged to be brokering the broadband deal. Abalos denied the allegations.
Lozada alleged that the first phase of the project from Manila to Calamba, Laguna, was overpriced by 22 percent, or about $70 million.
The 558-kilometer SouthRail project seeks to rehabilitate the railway line from Manila to Legazpi City, and then build a new line from there to Sorsogon. Like the aborted $329-million national broadband project, the South Rail project will be funded by loans from the Export-Import Bank of China.
Lozada said the project was one of the three projects he had handled for the National Economic and Development Authority, the others being the national broadband and the Philippine Postal Corp. He said the latter project was “clean.”
Earlier, Sen. Joker Arroyo said he is opposed to starting the South Rail inquiry, since the Senate has not come up with the results of its investigation into the $500-million North Rail project. (Please note that North Rail is different from the South Rail. This statement is mine).
Sen. Arroyo said that the Senate still has to produce a report on the “gargantuan” North Rail project, even after concluding the inquiry in the 13th Congress.
Supreme Court Rules in favor of Neri’s Executive Privilege
Meanwhile, voting 9-6, the Supreme Court ruled that acting Higher Education chair Romulo Neri correctly invoked executive privilege in refusing to answer three questions asked by the Senate in connection with its inquiry into the allegedly corrupt $329 million national broadband network project awarded to the China’s ZTE Corp.
The tribunal thus granted the petition of Neri that the Senate be stopped from compelling him to testify on what he said were confidential matters, saying doing so would be detrimental to the country’s diplomatic relations with China.
Penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, the SC ruling gave weight to the argument of Neri’s lawyer Antonio Bautista that his conversations with the President "dealt with delicate and sensitive national security and diplomatic matters relating to the impact of the bribery scandal involving high government officials and the possible loss of confidence of foreign investors and lenders in the country."
Fertilizer Scam
Still unresolved is the multi-million dollar fertilizer scam involving Joc-Joc Bolante. As can be gleaned from the information presented, poverty alleviation could easily be implemented had there been no corruption, or even less corruption, in government transactions and projects involving large amounts of money that could otherwise have been put to good use, to benefit the poorest of the poor.
