The Daily Tribune <<< Without Fear or Favor >>>

»HEADLINES

»NATION

Kill 2 birds

MR. EXPOSE

Amb. Ernesto Maceda

11/16/2007

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has drawn a conclusion that the Batasan bombing was meant to kill Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar. We are not ready to accept that theory.

Even assuming that is true, it does not rule out the possibility that it was a double-barreled plan to kill two birds with one bomb. Kill Akbar and in doing so, destabilize the GMA government if Muslim terrorists were the author. Also kill Akbar at the Batasan and lay the basis for a declaration of martial law, if rightist military elements were behind the plot. It would have been easier to kill Akbar outside the Batasan if that was the only purpose.

The problem of the PNP is that of credibility, what with its misperformance in the Task Force Usig investigations and the Glorietta 2 bombing flip-flopping. Its credibility is now at an all-time low.

This is the best chance to recover.

Manhid na. GMA is not bothered by her highly negative performance and trust ratings. The Pulse Asia October survey reported her distrust ratings increased to 46 percent from 37 percent with only 23 percent trusting her. Distrust for GMA was highest in well-informed Metro Manila at 51 percent.

That’s the problem. She’s not bothered. She doesn’t care what the citizens think and feel about her. As they say in the streets “manhid na.” There can be no change or reform when a Chief Executive no longer listens to the voice of her sovereign people. It’s going to get worse because she is now a lameduck. Even her government subalterns no longer obey her orders. Example, the change in the LTO administrator’s post.

Fire them. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BoC) are registering big shortfalls in their collections. Why? If GMA is claiming the economy is good, even registering a 7-percent GDP growth two months ago, taxes and revenues should be increasing, too.

No less than DoF Undersecretary Gil Beltran found it odd that the percentage tax collection should fall at a time when industries and the financial services sectors grew at a healthy pace of 10 percent. The answer is clear, Mr. Undersecretary. Corruption in the BIR and BoC is still at its worst. The incumbent commissioners should be fired and more lifestyle checks should be conducted on BIR’s and BoC employees. PASG chief Antonio “Bebot” Villar would make a good commissioner. He has proved he cannot be bribed in the oil smuggling cases.

Northrail. There is no doubt in many minds that the Northrail project funded by China to the tune of $420 million was grossly overpriced and earned hundreds of millions each for at least five top honchos involved in the project. Proof of this — the president of Northrail who died in a sudden heart attack left an unbelievable P500 million in his bank account over which four women are now fighting.

An honest-to-goodness investigation by the Senate, first proposed by then Senate President Frank Drilon, is in order.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila and former Neda Director General Romulo Neri negotiated and approved the Northrail deal.

Lucky. More congressmen and staffers have come out with stories that they could have been victimized by the Batasan bomb explosion had it not been for a lucky turn of events.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said many times he had waited for his car with Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar at the southwing entrance but fortunately, he left at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday night to go to ABS-CBN for a TV guesting at the show Strictly Politics.

Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, who usually exits through the southwing lobby but for unexplained reasons, decided to leave through the main lobby at about the time the explosion occurred.

The congressional shuttle bus, which usually picks up employees at the southwing entrance with about 50 passengers, just left a few minutes before the explosion. Jim Florentino, a staffer of San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, missed the explosion because he decided to pass the men’s room which he does not usually do. CCTV tapes showed at least three cars picked up congressmen at the blast site seconds before the explosion.

The car of Leyte Rep. Carmen Cari was parked nearest to the motorcycle that was reported to carry the bomb. She, too, was lucky she didn’t leave at the time of the explosion.

Definitely, there was a glaring lapse of security as demonstrated by the fact that an unauthorized motorcycle was able to park right next to the southwing entrance beside cars of congressmen. One easy security measure would be to prohibit parking of cars and motorcycles near the Batasan building. Only motorcycles registered with the sergeant-at-arms and given House tags should be allowed entry.

The security at the Central of the Iglesia ni Cristo compound at Diliman is better. All visitors and vehicles have to be cleared at the gate, far from the building.

Another feat. Tourism Secretary Ace Durano accomplished another feat when he convinced Singapore’s Banyan Tres Holdings Ltd. to build a $70-million luxury resort project in Dumaran Island in Northern Palawan. Manny Zamora, who operates Rio Tuba Mining Corp. in the area, is reportedly the Filipino partner.

Palawan with its many white beaches is fertile ground for beach resorts similar to Boracay. An added advantage for the province is the fact that it is a one-hour air travel time shorter to Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. It is also nearer Vietnam than Manila.

Romblon is another province where several island towns are good for tourist development.