JEDDAH, 10 August — These past two weeks have been exceptional for the Philippine political scene just for the sheer volume of sleaze that has come oozing out. What provoked the sensational revelations that Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former President Joseph Estrada had amassed more than $700 million in drug and kidnapping money in overseas bank accounts? It seems to have all started with a slinging match between Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo and Lacson.
Tulfo for years was a fan of Lacson’s unconventional way of dealing with criminals when he was a young police officer and later PNP chief and head of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Task Force. This consisted mainly of salvaging criminals without giving them the benefit of a judicial trial and defense of a lawyer. Tulfo was a robust cheerleader of Lacson and his men, cheering lustily from the pages of the Inquirer. Somewhere along the line, something obviously went wrong and Tulfo turned the tables on Lacson. Tulfo accused Lacson of murder and corruption, while Lacson claimed Tulfo had been on a PNP payola list for years, allegedly receiving up to P200,000 a month to keep writing sweet things about the police force. Lacson claims he ordered these media payments stopped when he became PNP chief (there were others in the media being paid off), and perhaps this is what ultimately made Tulfo turn on his former master.
In any event, the really explosive revelation came this Sunday when military intelligence chief Col. Victor Corpus, a former instructor of Lacson at the Philippine Military Academy, released a long list of bank account numbers and the respective amounts of dollars in them. Eight of the foreign bank accounts were allegedly in Lacson’s name, one account was a joint one with Lacson’s wife Alice, seven accounts were in Estrada’s name, and, finally, two accounts were in Alice Lacson’s name solely.
What many found amazing, apart from the huge amount of money spirited abroad, was the timing of Corpus’ revelations. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband Mike Arroyo had just returned from a short trip to the US after being accused of trying to bribe a Malacanang Palace official to help get a telecommunications deal approved by the president. Could these anti-Lacson revelations have been launched to divert attention and heat from the Arroyos to Lacson and Estrada? In the topsy-turvy world of Philippine politics, anything was possible.
Lacson’s allies in the Senate, Senators John Osmena and Vicente Sotto, have come to his rescue trying to turn the tables on Corpuz by asking him where he got the funds to conduct his investigation, and whether or not he intruded into PNP turf. Clearly, these are just meek diversionary tactics that will be easily squashed. The fact remains that nearly a billion dollars were found in these accounts, and neither Lacson nor Estrada could ever justify having such huge amounts of money in personal bank accounts. A thorough investigation should be launched and those found guilty should be punished. The government should ask the Hong Kong and US governments to freeze these accounts, and the money in them should ultimately be given to the Philippine government for poverty-alleviation programs. God knows, the Philippines could do with an extra $700 million.
The only question left after all of this is dealt with is: Is there anyone clean left in Philippine politics? An intriguing question indeed!
No taxes for OFWs please
THE RECENT proposal by former secretary of foreign affairs Domingo Siazon, Jr., that Overseas Filipino Workers should consider paying taxes if they want the right to absentee voting, is absurd.
With the huge sacrifices that OFWs are already enduring just to survive and keep the Philippine economy afloat, paying taxes just to be able to vote seems cruel and unusual. Even President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo admitted recently in a telephone talk with an OFW that there were no jobs for most OFWs wanting to return home. “Stay abroad as we don’t have anything for you here,” was GMA’s blunt advice that stunned many with its frankness.
The Philippine Constitution guarantees the right of every Filipino to vote. The issue of taxing OFWs should not be resurrected when discussing absentee voting. If the Philippine government does not have enough funds to implement an absentee voting scheme, then alternative ways of funding it should be found. I’m sure most OFWs wouldn’t mind paying a small voting fee if that enabled them to participate in major elections while abroad. Money collected this way could be funneled to the Comelec, who would be in charge of implementing the absentee voting scheme in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Luckily for OFWs, a major supporter of absentee voting rights, Jose de Venecia, is back in Congress. As speaker of the House of Representatives he carries clout, and he has promised to revive the issue in Congress and finally get it passed into law. Let’s hope that this time it really happens. OFWs are tired of waiting for the day when they will be able to vote for the Philippine president while working in Riyadh, Rome or Tokyo.
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Dammam expat needs help
A Filipino expatriate worker in the Kingdom is asking for the recovery of a ladies bag left inside a taxicab at Dammam recently.
In a letter to Arab News, Jose Pappachan said the bag contains money, jewelry and other valuables which the owner badly needs.
Any information may be relayed to the nearest police station or to Ali Elbar at mobile telephone no. 055-29188 or tel. No. 812-1245 extension no. 236 or 247.
Pappachan’s letter did not mention the plate number of the cab and on what day the bag was lost.
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Bangkok sojourn
I JUST got back from a five-day trip to Bangkok, Thailand, to visit Firestone’s tire factory there. The city is full of gleaming skyscrapers and shopping centers, and with the elevated highways and SkyTrain, the horrific traffic jams of yesterday have been greatly minimized.
Surprisingly for a city of 12 million people it seemed cleaner than Manila, with many more trees and less air pollution. Of course, the Thai people were as friendly and gracious as those Thai Airways ads claim they are, no doubt adding to my satisfaction.
I managed to take the SkyTrain twice to go shopping in the Emporium Shopping Center. We stayed at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel and there was a SkyTrain stop just in front of us. Just like the MRT in Manila, this system uses magnetic fare cards, but unlike in Manila, they are sold solely from vending machines. I didn’t know this during my first attempt to ride the SkyTrain, so I innocently approached the ticket booth manned by human attendants. I slipped a 20-baht note through the window and expected to get a fare card and change of 10 baht. Instead I got two ten-baht coins. When I pushed one of these back at the attendant, he finally told me to get my ticket from the machine behind me. In this comedy of errors, I felt like I was pushing money back and forth through the window and would never get a ticket!
With the baht trading at 43 to the dollar, prices were similar to those in Manila. Internet access at most Internet cafes was 1-baht per minute, while the “Planet of the Apes” movie I watched at the United Artists theater in Emporium, admittedly the most expensive movie theater in Bangkok, cost 120-baht.
Most movies cost 80-baht. Flag-down in an air-conditioned taxi is 25-baht and the airport departure tax is 500-baht.
And yes I did check out the notorious Patpong area, that legend had said was supposed to be bulging with hundreds of sleazy nightclubs and bars. I’m sad to report that I wasn’t shocked by anything I saw, perhaps due to the fact that the police had recently raided some bars for going a bit too far in their risqué shows.
