“Kapal Muks” Government Officials

As a retired military man—albeit one who got into trouble for acting rebelliously against his superiors—Sen. Trillanes should be a strict champion of correctness and discipline and an enemy of ungentlemanly behavior, like credit-grabbing... Because of this fear, Mr. Trillanes would rather console himself—and us, the public—with the hope that one day the practice of shameless credit-grabbing would go away without anybody being punished for it.

“Kapal Muks” Government Officials

IT’s not only the Senate’s Honorable Miriam Defensor Santiago but also three congressmen who should be hailed and supported for being champions of the cause to rid our country of the Garapal Monsters. These “kapal muks” government officials shamelessly put up signs and posters to make us, the public, think we owe streets, highways, bridges, schoolhouses and other government projects to them. They are credit-grabbers who are most likely also crooks who have driven up the cost of these projects by demanding huge commissions from contractors.

Senator Santiago is actually fighting a more successful battle than her House counterparts to get her colleagues to pass her Senate Bill No. 1967, “An Act Prohibiting Public Officers from Claiming Credit through Signage Announcing a Public Works Project.” Last Tuesday, the senators began formally discussing her “anti-epal” bill. Commendably, the senators reached an agreement to expand the coverage of the proposed law beyond public works projects and include public officials who have their names and faces painted on police cars, ambulances and fire trucks donated by private foundations and government institutions like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the PAGCOR.

Sen. Trillanes wants penal provisions out

Unfortunately, an objection to the penal provisions of Sen. Santiago’s bill came from an unexpected source, Sen. Antonio Trillanes, chairman of the civil service committee. As a retired military man—albeit one who got into trouble for acting rebelliously against his superiors—Sen. Trillanes should be a strict champion of correctness and discipline and an enemy of ungentlemanly behavior, like credit-grabbing. Instead, Sen. Trillanes came across in last Tuesday’s deliberations as someone too lenient on the Garapal Monsters. He proposed to remove the penal provisions of Madam Santiago’s bill.

If the bill becomes a law, which we pray it does, a jail term of between six months and one year would be meted out to a public official found guilty of having had his or her name or image printed on an item of “signage announcing a proposed or ongoing public works project.”

Mr. Trillanes was concerned that a political opponent of an incumbent official could have a piece of incriminating signage made, mounted and used to have the official charged, found guilty and punished. That fear may look rather pusillanimous and simplistic. For the incumbent official would ordinarily have men and followers who would easily thwart such a bold attempt by an opponent to put him in trouble. But our country is a place where strange things happen every day.

Because of this fear, Mr. Trillanes would rather console himself—and us, the public—with the hope that one day the practice of shameless credit-grabbing would go away without anybody being punished for it.

Another former military-man, Senator Panfilo Lacson opposed Mr. Trillanes position. He discounted fears that it would be difficult to implement the law and ascertain who really put up a credit-grabbing sign. Mr. Lacson ought to know. As a former police officer, he knows how quickly the police, if they really want to, could find out the true facts about anything.

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. raised another issue about implementation. He was in favor of passing the Santiago bill but wanted a provision added that would give protection to local law enforcement officers tasked with carrying out their duty to tear down signs and posters put up by their own superiors — the mayor or governor or congressman.

Protection for underlings of violators

That issue must be addressed. Some protective mechanism must be devised to embolden the underlings of local officials who feel and behave like feudal lords, datu, whom local policemen and other law enforcers fear because they still have the ancient mentality of the alipin.

This inability to do what is right is a universal problem involving duly-assigned law-enforcers and auditors who fear to do what is morally and legally right against powerful officials who have broken the law.

Frustrations of Reps. Romulo, Casino and Colmenares

In the House of Representatives, Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo filed his bill in January against credit-grabbing officials and politicians long before Sen. Santiago filed her bill in the Senate.

Congressman Romulo’s House Bill 3943 if enacted would make it “unlawful to place on any government property or project, any name, logo, picture, any identified alias, initial, character, symbol, or letter pertaining to a public official who is still in active service, has retired, or is already deceased.”

But the Romulo bill exempts signboards on government property that are “culturally and historically significant.” Following guidelines of the National Historical Commission, signage may be installed in these historical landmarks to honor deceased officials renowned for their heroism or special service to the nation.

Rep. Romulo’s proposed bill — “Public Works Title, Signboard and Marker Standardization Act” — has yet to be acted on by the House public works committee,

Besides Deputy Majority Leader Romulo, two opposition members of the House also feel bad that their anti-epal bill has been ignored by the chamber’s leadership.

The Left’s Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño and Rep. Neri Colmenares co-authored a bill that they actually filed in 2010. Their House Bill 2309 has the title “Prohibiting the naming of public properties and government services after incumbent elected public officials, their kin, spouses and relatives of up to fourth civil degree of consanguinity and providing penalties thereof and for other purposes.”

Both are aggrieved that the leaders of the House Committee on the Revision of Laws have not given their bill the time of day.

The bills filed by Sen. Defensor Santiago, Congressmen Romulo, Casiño and Colmenares must be consolidated and enacted. For, as Sen. Santiago has said, the penchant for credit-grabbing billboards and posters “promotes a culture of political patronage and corruption.”

It perpetuates our ancient feudal culture where datu rule to please themselves and the alipin timorously grin and bear it.

(taken from MANILA TIMES)

Legal action needed!

“We need to bring sanity and objectivity into the crusade against corruption… lawmakers must make sure that their hearings on graft result not in character assassination against political opponents, but legal action based on evidence and reform legislation to prevent irregularities in the future.”

Legal action needed!

By: Rick Saludo

When Congress conducts its next hearing in aid of demolition, it should hire The Lightman Group or rather a real-life equivalent of the fictional outfit featured in the TV series Lie to Me. In it Dr. Cal Lightman, played by Tim Roth (Incredible Hulk, 2008), and his team of experts in psychology and micro-expressions pick out liars in police interrogations and business meetings.

Media, too, could use such services before they rush to headline unsubstantiated accusations and insinuations. In recent weeks, two banner stories on alleged corruption in the military were disavowed the very next day by quoted accusers Col. George Rabusa and Sen. Antonio Trillanes. The top daily that published them should run a disclaimer warning that its headlines may be hazardous to the truth.

In fact, simple common sense and diligent journalism should be enough to catch most dodgy claims. Asked to produce proof, most accusers would become circumspect. Then the public is spared the unwarranted destruction of personal reputations and the undermining of national institutions on the basis of unsubstantiated assertions headlined by publications and programs that put newsstand sales and ratings above the undistorted truth.

Sadly, media, politicians and public often don’t care to let the facts get in the way of sensational stories.

Last week that cavalier attitude toward public accusations triggered tragedy with the death of of Angelo Reyes. The former Defense Secretary and AFP chief went from resource person to surprise accused at a Senate hearing supposedly on the plea bargain agreed by accused plunderer Gen. Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB).

With Reyes’s demise, there is a bit of introspection in Congress on rules for hearings as well as the conduct of legislators. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile rightly admonished Sen. Trillanes to produce evidence supporting any accusations he makes. Other senators agreed that civility should be restored in their deliberations, even those who were guilty of such excesses in the past. At least for this week, the baseless accusers are kept at bay.

But not for long, it seems. From a senator who is usually careful about his statements came a sweeping accusation against the Commission on Audit (COA) checking government finances. Sen. Francis Escudero was quoted by ABSCBNNews.com yesterday: “Karamihan ng problema ng corruption sa bansa, ang puno nasa COA. Kaya nga parating may porsyento ang COA. Every time that an issue of corruption crops up, we always find out that COA has 1percent to 2 percent.”

Let’s go over those quoted remarks sentence by sentence.

Most corruption problems have their root in COA, which always gets a percentage presumably of the anomaly allowed?

Every time corruption emerges, it always turns out that COA has 1 percent to 2 percent?

These superlatives were apparently based on Col. Rabusa’s allegation of payoffs to two COA officials, and former auditor Heidi Mendoza’s misgivings about the Commission Chairman during her time. Does Sen. Escudero include in his tally of COA-abetted graft the hundreds of billions of pesos in tax evasion and smuggling every year, which, in fact, the Commission does not audit? Oh, and would Senate President Enrile ask Chiz to present the basis for his accusations? Or would that demand for proof have to wait until a COA official commits suicide?

One wonders how legislators would take a similarly sweeping generalization like: Members of Congress are behind much corruption in the country. They get kickbacks from pork barrel spending not subject to stringent auditing. At their behest, their minions are appointed to government positions, where the appointees pile up corruption gains, most of which go to their patrons. And they lobby for government projects and concessions, for which they get big commissions from companies.

Legislators would be justified in protesting that such accusations are untrue, unfair and unfounded. They would be right to demand proof and to complain that the alleged graft of a few should not be extrapolated to tar everyone in Congress. And yet in hearing after hearing not only in recent weeks, but in the past several years, both lawmakers and media have been quick to impute wholesale graft on a whiff of sleaze.

We need to bring sanity and objectivity into the crusade against corruption. Yes, let us expose and punish anomalies, but always with evidence and due process, including the presumption of innocence.

Sure, give witnesses parliamentary immunity, but let their unproven testimonies be given in executive session, where reputations of both individuals and institutions are protected from unfounded attacks by accusers protected from libel penalties designed to deter untruths.

Most of all, lawmakers must make sure that their hearings on graft result not in character assassination against political opponents, but legal action based on evidence and reform legislation to prevent irregularities in the future. That may not generate many sensational headlines, but it will contribute far more toward real change.

Class 79 to punish TRILLANES

Dona Victorina condemns Senators Antonio Trillanes for his shabby treatment of Gen Reyes during the Senate hearings into the alleged corruption in the military… The superintendent of the PMA, Vice Admiral Leoanrdo Calderon, also described Trillanes behavior as “UNCAVALIER,” in violation of the PMA code on how to treat senior officers. The Manila Times also reports that:

Class 79 to punish TRILLANES

“Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1979, faces punishment from his fellow PMA graduates for humiliating a senior officer—late former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Angelo “Angie” Reyes—during a recent Senate inquiry.

“Even some of his [Trillanes] classmates did not like what he did to Angie Reyes,” they will go with punishing the senator, another former military chief of staff—Gen. Dionisio Santiago—told editors and reporters of The Manila Times during an exclusive roundtable on Monday.
It was not clear, though, what the punishment would be.

According to Santiago, many of the cavaliers or PMA alumni would shy away from Trillanes as a sign of protest to the alleged arrogance he displayed against Reyes, a member of PMA Class of 1966, when the former Armed Forces chief appeared on January 27 before the Senate blue ribbon committee.

It was during the same Senate inquiry that retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, a former military budget officer, disclosed that Reyes got P50 million in “pabaon” or send-off money when he retired on March 2001 besides the P5 million in monthly payola while serving as military chief of staff.

Twelve days after he was implicated in the alleged corruption in the Armed Forces, Reyes, apparently unable to bear the stigma and the damage inflicted on his integrity after he was linked to wrongdoing in the Armed Forces, was reported to have taken his own life right in front of the graves of his parents at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City (Metro Manila).
During the Senate hearing, Reyes asked the chairman of the committee that he be allowed pose questions at his accuser because his reputation was at stake.

But Trillanes interrupted, saying, “No, no, no, you don’t have any reputation to protect,” and telling Reyes to get a good lawyer instead.

Many senior PMA graduates detested Trillanes demeanor against a fellow cavalier.
Another former Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, has described Trillanes as arrogant, saying, “Masyadong mayabang ang batang ito [This young man is arrogant].”
Retired Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig expressed belief that the humiliation inflicted by Trillanes on Reyes might have pushed the latter to the edge.

The superintendent of the PMA, Vice Admiral Leoanrdo Calderon, also described Trillanes behavior as “uncavalier,” in violation of the PMA code on how to treat senior officers.
“Our core values in the PMA are integrity and loyalty. We also teach them [cadets] honor and respect. My comment is that definitely, this is very uncavalier-like. As an alumnus, I am grieved that a junior officer would say that to a senior officer and a very honorable man,” Calderon said of Reyes during an ABS-CBN Umagang Kay Ganda interview.

Despite the criticisms, Trillanes also on Monday said that he did not regret what he did to Reyes.
“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t regret anything in life because that’s the only key where I can move on, but I do learn lessons in life. Negative experiences can bring out lessons and I learn from that. Looking back, that’s how destiny played for us. That encounter, no matter how unfortunate it looks now in hindsight, there’s no going around it anymore. We just have to live with that,” Trillanes told ANC.” BY william desupil

Self-righteous lawmakers killed Reyes…

"Of course, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Antonio Trillanes, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and all the other people who piled on Reyes can say that it was the ex-defense chief who aimed the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger…
And so we must ask this question of the self-righteous and self-important lawmakers (and all self-righteous and self-important people everywhere) who drove Reyes to his death and cheered it when it actually happened: Are you happy now? …
Reyes may be guilty as charged or entirely innocent. We’ll never really know. "

Self-righteous lawmakers killed Reyes…

Columnist Jojo Robles opines that “if there is anything we can learn from the suicide of former Armed Forces chief and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, it is this: Some people value their reputations above everything else, and they will go to any extreme if they feel that their honor has been unjustly ruined forever.

And so we must ask this question of the self-righteous and self-important lawmakers (and all self-righteous and self-important people everywhere) who drove Reyes to his death and cheered it when it actually happened: Are you happy now?

Sure, nearly everyone who has a Facebook account has weighed in on the matter of Reyes’ suicide. And many of them seem perfectly willing to proclaim that the former defense chief was guilty as charged and must now be burning in hell.

But that would be assuming that Reyes was indeed guilty—and, furthermore, that he is the only one guilty in an institution that now seems rotten to the very core. And that is an assumption that not even Reyes’ tormentors in Congress will be able to make with any degree of confidence.

Of course, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Antonio Trillanes, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and all the other people who piled on Reyes can say that it was the ex-defense chief who aimed the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. If he could not stand the heat, what the hell was he doing in the kitchen anyway?

But to say that none of them helped kill Reyes is to pretend that the suicide happened in a vacuum, as if he took drugs or was insane. And we certainly know that this was not the case.

Indeed, we can imagine anyone who feels he or she has been unfairly pilloried in the Senate or the House during these chambers’ many investigations must have felt that suicide was a viable option. And any honest appraisal of the inherent unfairness and ultimate worthlessness (as far as ferreting out guilt or crafting laws) of our congressional investigations would certainly make us want to sympathize with them.

A Senate or House probe, after all, is never like an actual court of law, where even people like Andal Ampatuan, pere et fils, can expect a modicum of fairness and a presumption of guilt before it is clearly and incontrovertibly established. In nearly all cases, such investigations have long been decided before the first hearing is even scheduled, by lawmakers who have axes to grind against the people they intend to summon, humiliate and eventually destroy.

But Congress does this all the time, it can be argued. And Reyes could have toughed it out like everyone else given the same treatment, knowing full well that while his honor and reputation may be dragged through the mud, he will eventually get out of the Senate or the House in one piece and on his own power.

But that is precisely why Angelo Reyes, whose guilt or innocence was never established (because the pursuit of either was never really the goal), is different. He simply decided, rightly or wrongly, that he had enough and that he saw no other end to the suffering and pain but to end his own life.

Reyes may be guilty as charged or entirely innocent. We’ll never really know.
We can only hope that the people who cannot hide their happiness over Angelo Reyes’ death can say to themselves that they value their reputations as much as he did. And that, even if they were somewhere else far away, they didn’t have anything to do with pushing him over the edge.”