Golf Tourney Honors Bikol U.S.A. Ex-President Sunday

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(© 2011 Journal Group Link International

Joseph Lariosa

CHICAGO (jGLi) – The Bikol U.S.A. of the Midwest is going to host a golf tournament on Sunday, Sept. 25, at Big Oaks Golf Club & Country Club (262) 694-4200) at 6117 123^rd Place, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin 53158-3635.

Jimmy Azul, former Bikol U.S.A. President, said tee time will start at 10 a.m., shotgun and the format, stroke play.

There will be first, second and third place trophies to be awarded separately under the U.S.G.A. (United States Golf Association) Handicapping System and the Peoria scoring system.

One low gross prize will be awarded under both scoring systems for men and women.

Competition for the longest drive, closest to the pin and the longest putt will be available on designated holes.

Various golf and household merchandise will be raffled off after the game.

There will be two divisions for men: One for players with current (within the calendar year) and verifiable official USGA handicap index and another for players with no official USGA handicap index, where the Peoria scoring will apply.

Each player will donate $55, which covers Green fees, Cart, Snacks and Dinner Buffet, while each sponsor will have to fork out $100.

Parties, who are interested to join the tournament, may call Mr. Azul at 847.308.0410; incumbent Bikol U.S.A. of the Midwest President Evelyn Tolledo at 773.946.9668 and club member, Tony Blando at 832.603.7167.

This year’s golf tournament is dedicated to the memory of Engr. Jose “Joe” Ordonez, the third president of Bikol U.S.A.. Ordonez, a former dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City in the Philippines, died last month at the age of 76 of stroke at the Aquinas University Hospital in Legazpi City also in the Philippines. He retired in Tiwi, Albay in the Philippines and is survived by his wife, Jenny, and four children. He worked in the U.S. Federal government for many years prior to his retirement.

The golf tournament is one of the annual activities of Bikol U.S.A. based in Chicago, Illinois area. The group is now renamed Bikol U.S.A. of the Midwest.

Photo of the late Engr. Jose “Joe”
Ordonez. (jGLi)

(lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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BIGGER CROCODILES STILL ON THE LOOSE

JGL Eye

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(© 2011 Journal Group Link International)

Joseph Lariosa

CHICAGO (jGLi) – I applaud the residents of Agusan del Sur in the Philippines for snaring and trapping alive last week a huge prehistoric crocodile touted as the longest and heaviest of its kind in captivity. While the reptile might have consumed humans, who might have crossed his path, this crocodile should not be faulted for attacking humans because he was doing it only for survival. Now that the reptile which took its nickname “Lolong” after one of its ill-fated hunters, we should now turn on capturing the two-legged crocodiles that roam the Philippine Congress and the government, who never tire on stealing the pork barrels.

Many politicians have been raiding the national treasury for nearly a decade and stashed those ill-gotten wealth secretly in big investment houses. But still, they would insist on holding onto some elective positions, pretending to be serving the people. But what these very few rich people want to accomplish is to preserve their wealth so that more people will seek their help and be indebted to them. This insatiable desire to amass more wealth is a throwback to the feudal times when nobility would thrive by exploiting illiterates and turning them into beasts of burden. So they would be untouchable like drug lords, these rich people would have to put up private security agencies or private armies.They don’t realize it that the more they linger in government service, the more they are liable to committing more mistakes.

 

LAWYERS THRIVE ON MISTAKES OF POLITICIANS

 

 But like the black hole in the outer space, where nothing escapes, these crocodiles in the government will be ceding a great part of their wealth to the lawyers, who will be representing them in various courts of law. If they are unlucky with their choice, these lawyers will prolong the litigation of the case so they earn more attorneys’ fees.

 

 In the case of my native Sorsogon province, it is pity that my province mates have been governed alternately by husband-and-wife tandems, who are not even natives of Sorsogon. Incumbent Gov. Raul R. Lee is said to be originally surnamed “Rodrigueza” from Albay while his wife, former Gov. Sally Lee, is from Vigan, Ilocus Sur, who does not even speak Sorsogon Bikol. Since both of them are carpetbaggers, how sincere are they really in helping Sorsoguenos?

 

When she was governor of the southern most province of Luzon, Governor Sally Lee obtained a 260-million pesos (U$6-M) loan for the province. When Sorsogon’s provincial board member Vladimir Frivaldo sought for an accounting of the loan, Frivaldo did not get any response. I told Vladi to direct his inquiry to the Commission on Audit so it can conduct an accounting of the loan money. Despite the refusal of Governor Sally Lee to explain the whereabouts of the 260-million pesos, her successor and husband, Gov. Raul R. Lee, had the gall to secure another loan, this time, a bigger 350-M peso (US$8.3-M) loan.

 Vladi Frivaldo opposed the P350-M loan but the rest of the members of the Sorsogon provincial board approved the loan request. Vladi wrote a letter to the two banks – Philippine National Bank and Land Bank of the Philippines – to reject the Governor Raul Lee’s loan application by virtue of two criminal graft information filed against Lee by the Ombudsman. Vladi also wrote Congress to investigate the loan request. Vladi is still waiting for the response of his letters.

  LIQUIDATE FIRST THE P260-M LOAN BEFORE P350-M LOAN IS APPROVED

If COA finds out that Gov. Sally Lee cannot liquidate the P260-M, Sally Lee should be charged with malversation of public funds before the Ombudsman. If Sally Lee could not even account for the P260-M loan, why would PNB or the LBP even entertain granting the P350-M loan to her husband?

Court Information furnished to me by Mr. Fulton Baylon, an anti-graft fighter in Sorsogon, shows that Gov. Raul R. Lee, Raul G. Hernandez, Sorsogon Provincial Chief Accountant, and Ofelia D. Velasco, Sorsogon Provincial Treasurer, have been charged with violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (R.A. 3019) by Ombudsman Orlando C. Casimiro after a preliminary investigation for buying P2,640,000.00 (US$62,857.00) Bio Nature Liquid Fertilizer from Feshan Phil. Inc. without public bidding.

The overpriced liquid fertilizer, according to former DA (Dept. of Agriculture) Regional Executive Director Fe Laysa, is “not appropriate for rice and corn, the principal crops in the region” but it is good for “hanging plants like orchids and other ornamental plants, which however, are not among the priority commodities for development and support.”

In another case supplied to me by Mr. Baylon, the Ombudsman also charged Gov. Raul R. Lee, Atty. Cesar J. Balmaceda, Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Antonio R. Huab, Provincial Engineer’s Office Engr. Arnie de Vera, Assistant Provincial Budget Officer Rosie D. Agnis, Provincial Assessor Florenco C. Dino II, Provincial General Services Officer Teresita D. Paladin, Accounting Clerk III Felicisimo D. Brondial, Inspection Officer Manuel S. Laurora and Enrico T. Velasco, Presidential and CEO of First Education & Training Ventures, Inc. of San Juan City, Metro Manila with accepting P12, 000,000.00 (US$285,714.00) satellite and office equipments and a recurrent fee of US$24,000 on March 29, 2004 from FETVI before FETVI was awarded the contract on March 30, 2004 without public bidding.

The same respondents are also accused of obtaining 300 sets of computer hardware and software in the amount P10,000,000.00 (US$238,095) from a loan with the Philippine National Bank. The only problem with these computers is that they are all “reconditioned/slightly used” instead of the “brand new fresh commercial stock supplies or property” required by the COA Circular.

Oh, well the accused in Sorsogon are not as large as the crocodiles in the Philippine Congress and Malacanang but they can grow as big if they will be left in the wild (or go unpunished).With these charging information, Secretary Jesse Robredo has now every reason to ask Governor Lee to cede his office to the Vice Governor, unless Mr. Lee can quash the information.

(lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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PH TOURISM COUNCIL VICE CHAIR RECALLS “SURVIVING” 9/11

JGL Eye

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

Joseph Lariosa

(© 2011 Journal Group Link International) 

CHICAGO (jGLi) – A small group of Filipinos from my home province of Sorsogon in the Philippines was looking forward to a hearty breakfast in the Twin Towers in New York City, New York 10 years ago.

But the jetlag of the late arriving party and the long drawn-out conversations of the others waiting for them at Beacon Hotel on 72nd Avenue in New York City spilled into the small hours of the morning, prompting the group to move their meeting from breakfast to “brunch” (breakfast-lunch) between 10:30 and 11 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.

My friend, Joesan Gabarda, of Troy, Michigan and Sorsogon City, recalled that he was about to leave their Beacon Hotel and hail a taxi that would take him and some of his companions to the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 when he saw live on television that day that the Twin Towers were burning.

“If the late arriving party did not complain of being tired from the trip and if the others did not extend their conversations well into early in the morning, we would have rushed to the Twin Towers at 8 a.m., the exact time when the two planes hit the buildings. I am very sure we would have been among the victims of that tragic event.” Gabarda, a Filipino American anti-graft advocate, now muses.

“Perhaps, we were just lucky to “survive” 9/11,” Gabarda deadpans.

As vice chair of the Sorsogon Tourism Council, Gabarda’s presence was a must so he drove all the way from Troy to New York City to make it to the presentation of artifacts of Sorsogon Tourism Council in the Philippine Trade Center on 5th Avenue in New York City.

OTHER MEMBERS OF SORSOGON TOURISM COUNCIL

 Among the officers and members of the Council were Sorsogon’s Filipino American Attorney Loida Nicolas Lewis (chair) and her brother, Francis Nicolas, Wilfredo “Buboy” Duana and his wife, Cherry, and his mother, Milagros Duana, Cecilia Duran of Sorsogon City’s Fernando Hotel, Cecilia Capinpin and Eddie Chua.

“I made a reservation earlier at Twin Towers so our group can have a breakfast at 8 a.m. but we could not make it that early. So, I delayed our meeting to 10:30 or 11:00 a.m.” he recalls.

Gabarda said Eddie Chua, Buboy and Cherry arrived from the Philippines in the morning of Sept. 10. So, he and Fernando Laban of New Jersey picked up the three at the Newark, New Jersey airport. They brought the three new arrivals straight from the airport to Philippine Trade Center to catch the presentations of artifacts.

In the afternoon, some in the group took the stuff of the new arrivals to Beacon’s Hotel and together with rest of about 30 to 50 guests, they proceeded to the two-floor Central Park condominium of Atty. Lewis, who hosted a dinner party.

While most of the guests took cabs to go to the hotel after the dinner party, others, like Joesan, Cherry, Buboy and Francis, decided to walk from the Central Park condominium on 5th Avenue to Beacon Hotel at 72nd Avenue. It must have been a long walk, he remembered it was almost 3 a.m. in his watch and he was dead tired when they reached the hotel.

Coupled with the lack of sleep of the new arrivals and the late morning sleep of the rest, it was easy to delay the breakfast meeting from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sept. 11.

“When I saw TV footages with the jets hitting the Twin Towers, I thanked God and congratulated our group, telling them, ‘we were survivors.” Gabarda said.

He said that while everybody were scampering from the Towers, he and Eddie Chua were curious so they tried to take a cab going to the Towers. But they could not flag down a cab. They went to catch a train at the subway but there was no train to catch either.

TRAPPED FOR TWO DAYS IN NY

 Since nobody can get out, “we were trapped for two days in New York.” Everyone was being inspected and was properly identified. Atty. Lewis later invited the group to her home at South Hampton, Long Island for a get-together.

Atty. Lewis was so nervous she did not ride her car but decided to “join me and Eddie Chua in my small run-down P.T. Cruiser” to her South Hampton home.

Eddie Chua later joined him in his trip back to Michigan and Eddie flew to California after three days.

Among the artifacts presented on the eve of 9/11 were paintings that were being exhibited in the Sorsogon Tourism Council now being run by Ms. Sylvia Perdigon, a coordinator of Sorsogon’s governor’s office.

Gabarda said when he noticed that the Sorsogon provincial government was taking an active hand in running the affairs of the Sorsogon Tourism Council, he resigned from the position. “After my resignation, Atty. Lewis followed suit,” Gabarda said.

He believes the Sorsogon Tourism Council is better left to the non-government organizations (NGO’s), with the government “just supporting role.”

It is unfortunate that the government is always interested in raising sponsorship money on behalf of the council. But the money is not flowed back to the projects of the council. The money lines the pockets of those running the council, Gabarda rues.

Gabarda said his original group, who “survived” the 9/11, had a reunion a year later in the condominium of Atty. Lewis at Rockwell in Makati City. But they might reminisce again about “our second life” in another reunion, maybe sometime in the future.

“Meanwhile, let’s pose for a moment to pray for those, who were not as lucky like us, who survived,” he said.

 

9/11 “SURVIVOR”

Joesan Gabarda (extreme right), a 9/11 “survivor,” is shown in this photo with this columnist (extreme left), when they met at Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in Michigan last Aug. 10. Others in photo from left are Brooke Camp, a CNN recruiter, Curtis Lee Jay, news anchor of “Action News” of NBC in Kansas City, Missouri, a grandson of Felino Lee of Magallanes, Sorsogon and Bobby M. Reyes of Sorsogon City and Mabuhay Radio based in Los Angeles, California. (© 2011 jGLiPhoto) //

JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

Correspondent

Journal Group Link International

P. O. BOX 805072

CHICAGO IL 60680-4112 U.S.A.

Tel. 312.772.5454

Fax No. 773.283.5986

Email: lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net

(Watch out for the upcoming media-outlet oriented, subscription-based website of Journal Group Link International that guarantees originally sourced stories, features, photos, audios and videos and multi-media contents.)

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Fil Ams Make Waves at AAJA Convention

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(© 2011 Journal Group Link International)

DETROIT, Michigan (jGLi)– Some Filipino Americans are getting some attention during the ongoing three-day 22nd annual convention of the Asian American Journalists Association that ends on Saturday, Aug. 13, in Detroit, Michigan.

Three of them are panelists in different workshops in the organization that is also marking its 30th anniversary this year. They are Rene Astudillo, executive director, Lupus Foundation of Northern California, who is in the panel of “Fighting To Protect Immigrant Rights”; Maria Hechanova, morning reporter, WLNS-TV, Yuma, Arizona, panelist in “Surviving Small Markets”; and Emil Guillermo, award-winning journalist and TV/radio host/commentator, panelist in “Authors’ Showcase: In Conversation with Grace Lee Boggs.”

Among Filipino American journalists attending this event are Curtis Lee Jay, news anchor “Action News” of NBC in Kansas City, Missouri; Justin Mendoza, TV news reporter/video journalist/producer; and Joseph G. Lariosa, correspondent Journal Group Link International and AAJA Chicago Chapter member. While those covering the event are former Manila Bulletin Provincial Editor Tony Antonio, editor of Fil Star Michigan, and Bobby Reyes of Mabuhay Radio of Los Angeles, California. Another Fil Am attending is Michigan active community leader, Willie Dichavez.

Mr. Curtiz Lee Jay met at the convention with Messrs. Reyes and Joesan Gabarda of Troy, Michigan. Gabarda is a friend of Jay’s grandfather, Felino Lee of Magallanes, Sorsogon in the Philippines.

Astudillo is AAJA’s National Treasurer and was AAJA’s executive director from 1999 to 2008. Hechanova worked her way up from producer/reporter and has worn many hats in her two-year tenure, including administrative assistant! She’s also the co-chair of AASMBJ (Asian American Small Market Broadcast Journalists), a group dedicated to supporting AAJA members who are just starting their careers. For nearly 15 years, Guillermo wrote the most widely read opinion column on Asian America in the U.S. An award-winning veteran broadcast and print journalist, talk host and commentator, Guillermo was the first Asian American to regularly host a national news radio program on NPR’s “All Things Considered” from 1989-1991.

During the panel discussion, Maria Hechanova, said working in a small market station is tough as she felt alienated from her relatives when her job application was accepted and she left her friendly confines in Phoenix, Arizona.

“You have to face two-step battle as you transition to your new job,” Ms. Hechanova, whose parents are from Iloilo in the Philippines, said. “First, losing people and finding that second job.”

It took her two years to prepare her taped resume, taking live shots. While she put things together, she was and is always having an open mind to criticisms of her job and demeanor by listening intently to her missteps.

While her contract expires in three years, she developed some anxiety two years into her job as she starts to make plans to jump into a “bigger” market. Her anxiety becomes acute as she gained the “the people’s trust and you create from them their respect.”

Ms. Hechanova turned emotional when she said her Mom called her a week after she got a new job, telling her that her Dad was very sick. Her father died last July 22nd.

She thanked the Asian American Journalists Association, which helped her cope up with her problems.

But what cheers her up in Yuma is a group Filipino Americans, who always invite her to their event, serving her up with her favorite Filipino delicacies.

She always feels that career is a marathon, where you develop your skills as you linger on your job. But she is still keeping her options open if she wants to pick up the anchor job of her dream. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

PANELISTS:

Fil Am Maria Hechanova (extreme right), morning reporter, WLNS-TV, of Yuma, Arizona, joins members of the panel after they presented “Surviving Small Markets” workshop Thursday, Aug. 11, at the St. Louis Convention Center in Detroit (COBO), Michigan. Others in photo to her right are Jam Sardar, TV News Director WLNS-TV, and Priscilla Luong, a reporter for Fox25 and CW34 of Oklahoma City. Back row at right is George Kiriyama, news reporter, NBC Bay Area News and an unidentified AAJA member or guest. (jGLiPhoto by Joseph G. Lariosa)

REUNION:

Former Manila Bulletin Provincial Editor Tony Antonio (extreme right), editor of Fil Am Star News in Michigan, is reunited with former Manila Bulletin police reporter Joseph G. Lariosa (extreme left), correspondent of Journal Group Link International, at the 22^nd annual convention of the Asian American Journalists Association Thursday, Aug. 11, at the St. Louis Convention Center (COBO) in Detroit, Michigan while Bobby Reyes of Mabuhay Radio looks on. At the background is the Detroit River overlooking Canada on the other side of the river. (jGLiPhoto)

SORSOGANONS AT THE CONFAB:

Curtis Lee Jay (third from left), news anchor “Action News” of NBC in Kansas City, Missouri, introduced himself as a grandson of Felino Lee of Magallanes, Sorsogon, while Sorsoganons Joseph G. Lariosa (extreme left), Bobby M. Reyes and Joesan Gabarda (extreme right) were conversing in Bikol. Lookin on is Jay’s friend, Brooke Camp, CNN recruiter, at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center in Michigan Wednesday, Aug. 10. (jGLiPhoto)

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THIS BACMAN IS NO HERO

JGL Eye

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

 

CHICAGO (jGLi) – In his diary, Philippine national hero Jose Rizal described Missouri River as twice the size of Pasig River in its widest part. Missouri is just the second largest tributary of the Mississippi, the largest river system in North America.

In my youth, I considered Kawayan (spelled with a “k” since there is no “c” in Tagalog nor Bikol alphabets) River in Basud, Sorsogon in the Philippines just as big as the Pasig River if not half as big in its narrowest part.

When I was in grade school, I always cherished the days when we visited our relatives living near Kawayan River so we could swim in the white water the whole day.

If we could leave early in the day, we would even walk upstream of Kawayan River called “Rangas” for a picnic to visit one of my uncles, Felipe Lariosa, who would guide us to a pool of water which was so clean it was safe to drink. We did not care if we took on water while we bathed.

Today, Kawayan River is like a swamp that may soon become a dry and barren land.

Thanks to what Los Angeles, California activist and former Sorsogon resident Bobby Reyes describes as an “ecological rape” of Kawayan River perpetrated formerly by the Philippine government when it was operating the Philippine National Oil Company, which later became National Power Corporation. The NPC ceded its interest to Energy Development Corporation after submitting the complying bid for the 150-MW Bacman (Bacon-Manito) geothermal plants last year for 1.2-billion pesos (US$26-million) during an auction hosted by PSALM (Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp).

While geothermal is considered “cleaner energy” than coal- or oil-fired power plant because each kilowatt-hour of electricity it generates only emits about 5 percent of carbon dioxide, along with the area’s “rotten-egg” smell as well as ammonia and methane that it emits, geothermal still raises environmental issues such as air and water pollutions along with safe disposal of hazardous waste, silting, and land subsidence.

 FACEBOOK REVOLUTION

One of the residents near Kawayan River, Sonia Lariosa, a cousin of mine, informed Mr. Reyes that in her Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150294889948968.379581.720778967, everyone can see the effects of how huge power companies bring ecological nightmare to the rivers like Kawayan and nearby farm lands when these powerful companies disregard environmental safeguards as they go about with their business.

Sonia complains that Kawayan River is now a very small tributary and from the photos, it seems it is no longer empties into the Sorsogon Bay.

She said her small rice fields are no longer irrigated with water from up streams but with muds “with cement” that can only come from nearby “Bacman II, a geothermal facility that operates two 20-Megawatt-unit turbines “commissioned in 1994.”

The word “Bacman” was taken from the towns of Bacon, Sorsogon and Manito Albay in the Bikol region. It has a steam plant (BacMan I) located in the boundary of Bacon and Manito.

“When my father was alive (Cerelo Lariosa, a World War II veteran), these PNOC people had been bulldozing our small patch of land. My father protested but because nobody can sue the government without its consent, my father gave up and let them do what they wanted,” Sonia recalls.

While the PNOC was building their facility, quarrying of the river went into high gear. Today, when there is rain, there are no more stones to hold the soil and there are mudslides all over the place.

Sonia is not the only one affected. Her neighbors about 200 of them have signed up a petition to put into stop to the unmitigated exploitation of their natural resources that used to irrigate their rice fields, which are the main sources of their livelihood. “We can no longer grow palay in our rice fields,” she wailed.

BANTAY SALAKAY (PROTECTOR-PREDATOR)?

She said she could not get the cooperation of her Barangay Captain so their complaints will reach the higher government authorities (the local “representathieves” of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources), who are conniving with the Energy Development Company people.

They are now enlisting the help of senior law students from Aquinas University in Legazpi City so they can file complaints.

They have formed a group called “Bacman Geothermal Multi Monitoring Task Force,” which will file a complaint against EDC before the United Nations for violating the KYOTO PROTOCOL, an environmental treaty, of which the Philippines is a signatory.

The Task Force realizes that they are up against a behemoth in the industry in EDC, a geothermal leader whose Chair Emeritus is Oscar Lopez of the powerful ABS-CBN international conglomerate. Last May 15, EDC reported a net income of 1.45 billion pesos (US$31-Million) for the first quarter of the year alone. Thru its subsidiaries Green Core Geothermal, Inc. (GCGI) and Bacman Geothermal, Inc. (BGI), EDC acquired the geothermal power plants owned by National Power Corporation, which sources steam from Company’s steam field assets.

Oscar Lopez is a sister of Gina Paz L. Lopez, the managing director of ABS- CBN’s Foundation, Inc.’s Bantay Kalikasan (nature protector) that “envisions a responsibly protected and preserved Philippine environment where children can live safer, healthier and more bountiful lives.”
Sonia said she wrote Gina about her complaints against EDC. But Sonia is afraid Gina is going to be placed in a “conflicting role.”

EDC remains the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, accounting for 62 percent of the total country, the largest integrated geothermal power company in the world.

Last year, Bacman plants generated 1,199 MW. To appreciate better the power of an MW, a 3-MW plant can supply electricity to Ormoc City, which has a population of 177,524 people and Ormoc’s nearby towns. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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THE SECRETS OF POLITICIANS’ STAYING POWER

 

JGL Eye

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

 

CHICAGO (jGLi) – When I was covering the mayor’s offices of Rizal province in the Philippines in the seventies, I was pleasantly surprised to see a mayor of Antipolo in near tears when I told him politicians should pave the way for other aspirants when they had grown tired of their jobs or had run out of ideas to improve other peoples’ lives.

“Joseph,” the mayor told me, “what will happen to me when I leave the town hall? Running for mayor and winning the job is the be-all and end-all for me. I don’t have any other marketable skills to boot.”

If you get a similar response from politicians in your neighborhood, you should be ready to stick by him for a long haul.

These kinds of politicians might not have heard of the Peter Principle propounded in 1968 by educator Dr. Laurence J. Peter, who said that: “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence … in time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties … Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”

This theory met its match when the United States Military has required that certain ranks should be held for no longer than a set amount of time, a lack of compliance of which could render grounds for dismissal.

We can just imagine if the Philippine military will ignore the Peter Principle. What would have happened to the Philippines if thefts of comptrollers of the Philippine Armed Forces like Generals Carlos Garcia and Jacinto Ligot or AFP Chiefs of Staff like the suicide-driven Angelo Reyes, Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu were not exposed? Don’t you think they would ever leave their posts if they were not detected?

And if these kinds of generals were given the option to retire from office like a United States Supreme Court justice who has lifetime tenure, where will the Philippine government get its depleted funds?

LESSONS FROM GENERALS

Look at what happened to other generals abroad, whose rise to power had remained unchecked. There were Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Augusto Pinochet or Col. Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi to name few, who are shoo-in for entries into the Hall of Shame.

And this takes us back to our local politicians, like my favorite provincial governor in Sorsogon, Atty. Raul Lee.

Governor Lee is your typical Filipino politician, who believes that, like the mayor of Antipolo, Rizal, or the Hall-of-Shame generals that they are the only competent people who can improve other peoples’ lives.

If Governor Lee will be voted off, he can no longer game the system. His position will be a fare game to all comers, who believe that he no longer have an iota of competence.

Ever since his political rival in Governor Juan Frivaldo died after becoming the longest-serving Sorsogon provincial governor, Governor Lee seemed to have carried a chip on his shoulder because he could no longer break Mr. Frivaldo’s winning streak.

With term limits now in place, like any other politician protecting his turf, when Gov. Lee will just about to be termed out, he will let his wife, Sally, run for his position so he will not lose his touch of power. And he can run again for the same position in case his wife is also about to be termed out.

But if they have outlived their competence, as they never age like wine, I believe, Governor Lee should just cede his position to his vice governor and “cut his losses.”

POLITICAL DYNASTY IN THE MAKING

Instead of enjoying his retirement, the 69-year-old Mr. Lee is now re-enforcing his mini-dynasty that he would only be dreaming if the aging “Tata Juan” were still alive. He is now grooming his son, the incumbent Sorsogon City Vice Mayor, and his grandson, the incumbent SK Federation President, for his position.

I don’t mind if his dynasty takes root for as long as can improve the peoples’ lives till Kingdom Come.

But why is he now so insecure like Marcos? Governor Lee has also now usurped the power of the provincial legislature called Sangguniang Panlalawigan by reducing its budget?

The last I heard, in order to silence his critics, Governor Lee has also taken over the appointing power of his vice governor (Antonio H. Escudero) and suddenly became a micro-manager.

After being named to answer for the fertilizer scam, Mr. Lee turned the table on his opponents in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan by hitting them where it hurts most: deprive the SP the ability to hire and keep their own staff.

All appointments by the SP will now have to go thru the eye of his needle so he can buy their loyalties.

His vocal critique, SP member Vladimir Frivaldo, the grandson of “Tata Juan,” was deprived of his “proposed staff complement” after Governor Lee learned that the grandson of his former foe was opposing Lee’s support for STL (small town lottery) operation, the controversial operation of mining in Barangays Balocaue and Cabagahan both in Matnog, Sorsogon and demand for liquidation of the loan obtained by his wife, Sally Lee, in the amount of 260-M pesos (U.S.$ 5.7-Millions) before Lee can obtain a new 350-million pesos (U.S $8.75-M), the biggest loan in the history of the province.

Mr. Vladimir Frivaldo reminded Gov Lee that it is the duty of the SP to approve the annual budgets, the request by the office of the Governor to obtain loan, to oversee that programs and projects are implemented properly within existing laws, guidelines and procedures and make implementors accountable, and not the governor’s.

I don’t know how Gov. Lee can circumvent the fertilizer scam filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman. If he can steer clear of the charges, the people of Sorsogon can always gather enough signatures to start the ball rolling for his unprecedented recall. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

 

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Two Murder Survivors Part Ways on Death Penalty

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

Joseph Lariosa

CHICAGO (jGLi) – Two surviving Filipino Americans whose members of their families were victims of murders in Illinois share opposite views on death penalty.

I sought out their views following the signing Wednesday (March 9) by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn of the ban of death penalty, making Illinois the 16th state to end capital punishment.

As you know, the Philippines is one of the 95 out of the 193 members of the United Nations or members with UN observer status, which abolished death penalty. The Philippines is only one of eight out of 41 countries in Asia, which abolished capital punishment.

Of course, the People’s Republic of China is one of the countries, which is keeping death penalty in its books. And if it stays that way, it is going to be a frequent travel destination for Filipino diplomats, who would be appealing the stays of execution of 79 Filipinos in Death Row for “large scale drug trafficking.” 

NOT THRILLED BY ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY 

For Reyle V. Cardino, 53, whose parents were murdered on July 8, 2009 in their home in the outlying Chicago suburb of Rockford, Illinois, said he is not thrilled by the decision of the Democratic governor.

In an email to this reporter, Reyle (pronounced reel) said, “Let me start by saying that I was completely against the abolishment of the death penalty in Illinois. I have sent an email to the Governor myself, telling him my feelings towards this issue.”

He added, “I was assured by the Winnebago County State Attorney Joe Bruscato that if (the bill is) signed, there will be initiatives to put a bill together to re-instate the death penalty in Illinois. And so far, there is already movement. I just hope that this issue will be put before the people of Illinois to vote. We might find (out how) the people of Illinois (stand on) the death penalty.”

Because the case of the double murder of his father, Reynato “Rey” V. Cardino, 77, and his mother, Leticia Villanueva Cardino, 75, is still pending, Reyle anticipates “a delay (of the case) until the issue of the death penalty is settled.”

With the case still very fresh in his mind, Reyle believes, “life in prison (for the killer of his parents) alternative is not enough.”
He said, “This is not the Middle Age anymore where, life in prison means being hang up against a wall with chains until (the prisoner is) dead.”

Reyle added, “Having to spend the rest of his natural life in prison, where he can start a whole new way of life, have friends and family come visit, is not penalty enough (for the killer of his parents). 
“Have TV, food to eat, a roof over his head, a library, a gym and maybe a movie once a week, is not penalty enough. He will put what he had done in the back of his memories and live his new life. He will not forget us, but he will not think of us, is not penalty enough.”

“He brutally attacked me and left me for dead, brutally attacked and caused the death of my mother and father. (With t)he trauma that he had inflected on my family, does he deserve to die? (In t)his case I say yes overwhelmingly.”

Like State Attorney Bruscato, other Illinois state prosecutors, among them, Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan, had asked Quinn to veto the bill, saying videotaped interrogations and advancements in DNA technology had left no room for wrongful executions of innocent people. Taped interrogations were one of the features of a bill filed by President Barack Obama when he was an Illinois state senator.

 “I LOVE BAN OF DEATH PENALTY”

For his part, Emmanuel S. Castro, 69, told me “I love it that there is no more death penalty in Illinois.”

Castro, a Filipino American native of Bulacan in the Philippines, is the father of Michael Castro, one of the two Filipinos and five others, who were massacred in 1993 in suburban Palatine, Illinois.

“I have since changed my mind regarding death penalty. Papatayin natin ang mga murderer, paano kung wala naman palang life after death? Di hindi na sila mapaparusahan ng Diyos.” (Okay, if we hang the murderers, what if there is no life after death? They will be spared from the punishment of God.”

“Kung nasa kulungan sila, paglalaruan lang sila ng mga inmates. (If they in prison, they will be pestered by other inmates). Their human bodies will suffer,” Mr. Castro said.

When I told him that hanging two inmates would be two mouths less to feed and saving from additional expenses, Mr. Castro countered, “You are talking about expenses not my feelings.”

“Besides,” Mr. Castro said, “because Death Row inmates are not granted parole, they will be forever suffering in isolation. They will miss birthdays of their children, the Christmas and other holidays while they are alive. No television. They only have one-hour-a day of recreation and no comfort in life at all. Only full of miseries.”

Mr. Castro said he did not get any civil damages from the owners of the fast food chain, Brown Chicken’s restaurant, because it was proven in court that the owners were not negligent – as the husband-and-wife restaurant owners Richard Ehlenfeldt and his wife, Lynn, were among those who were murdered along with his son.

“Even if I benefited from the death of my son, they can no longer have my Michael back.”

It was a rare interview granted to this reporter by Mr. Castro, who declined to be interviewed by Discovery Channel some time ago, saying, “I did not want to relive the nightmare that we suffered as a result of the death of my son.”

The killers of his son, Juan Luna and James Degorski, were both spared from Death Row and are now living a life in prison. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)

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The MEAO Heard ‘Round The World

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

  

CHICAGO (jGLi) – The Matnog Environmental Advocates Organization (MEAO) is a very tiny group named after the obscure municipality of my mother in Sorsogon province in the Philippines but its advocacy is getting notice in this part of the world.
MEAO’s advocacy is to be more conscientious with environmental disaster waiting to happen. It got a boost last week when an indigenous villager Maria Aguinda in Rumipamba, Ecuador won a blockbuster $9.5-billion judgment and brought to its knees U.S. giant Chevron for leaving behind an environmental damage for polluting the villager’s rain forest.
The multi-billion dollar judgment should send shockwaves to upstart mining companies in the Philippines, which ventured into this labor-intensive business fraught with environmental pitfalls.
One such debacle in the Philippines that escaped notice was the massive environmental hazards left behind by the United States in the early nineties when the Philippine Senate shut down the bases without first requiring the US to rid the bases of their hazardous materials.
Recently, the multi-national joint $45-Million investment from Lafayette, Philippines, Inc. (LPI) of Australia and the LG Group of South Korea whose contract to mine 18 out of 180 hectares, (not 5,218 hectares that I inadvertently wrote in my previous column), that straddle within Barangays Malobago, Pagcolbon and Binosawan in Rapu-Rapu, Albay province, north of Sorsogon province, was unceremoniously scrapped four months into the six- to seven-year operation following cyanide poisoning that triggered massive fish kills in the adjoining Pacific Ocean.

GRAVEL-AND-SAND MINERS

Now comes a little-known venture capitalist named Antonio Ocampo and/or Antonio Comersiase Jr. who appear to be backed up by a gravel-and-sand delivery truck company euphemistically named Alexandra Mining & Oil Ventures, Inc. based in Quezon City in the Philippines advertising Matnog Ore Project as one of its “on-going mining projects.” The Matnog Ore Project covers 19.840 hectares (not 19,840 hectares that I earlier mentioned in my column).
May I ask these venture capitalists if they have capitalization that comes close to the $45-million put up by the LPI and LG Group and be ready to lose that kind of money when disaster strikes?
Are they ready to operate without PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) so that they will be paying 54 percent national and local taxes and they get only 46 percent of their ROI (return of investment)?
Do they have money held in a screw so that authorities can draw from it to be given away to victims of calamities and disasters that could be caused by mining operation in Balocawe in Matnog?
Do they have money that will be sourced from fine against them “for pollution” to solve among others the “Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) problem” and for “decommissioning” expenses after the mining operation and replanting of trees that were cleared prior to the mining operation?
“Rehabilitation and environmental mitigation measures” are expensive propositions.

DISASTER INSURANCE, ANY ONE?

Without escrow account, do they have a surety bond or disaster insurance to cover future victims of disaster that may result in the mining operation?
Do they have an ownership structure that will publicly show that the incorporators of the mining permit holder have capability to pay in case of damages by showing their previous statements of assets and liabilities? Are they ready to follow the recommendations of the Presidential Rapu Rapu Fact Finding Commission Report (PRRFFCR) and/or the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) Assessment of the Rapu Rapu Polymetallic Project (DARRPP) issued in 2006?
To avoid the multi-billion dollar fine in Ecuador against Chevron, are these mining permit holders ready to establish “baseline average health condition” by conducting medical tests and “blood work” of the population around the mining area free of charge so that they can show that the population has pre-existing medical health condition prior to and after the mining operation?
Can DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje certify that it has now re-trained its personnel following the 2006 Rapu-Rapu debacle, which according to PRRFFCR exposed its personnel as having “dysfunctional monitoring system”?
And is there now an oversight mechanism that can oversee the operation before, during and after the mining operation?
If the answers to all of the above questions are “yes,” then, by all means, this mining permit holder should be allowed to mine the Matnog Ore Project.
Its approval should stop Governor Raul R. Lee from “politicizing” this project to harass the members of the Sorsogon provincial board, who are opposing the mining operation in Matnog.
Provincial board member Vladimir Frivaldo has complained that ever since he opposed the mining project of Matnog and the STL (small town lottery, the legalized jueteng), Governor Lee has been giving him a hard time.

LEE SHOULD BE RECALLED?

The governor refused to give him detailed information where the previous and existing loans of the province went before he could support another request of the governor to obtain 350-million pesos loan (US$8.1-Million).
If the new loan is approved by the rubber-stamp provincial board, the loan of the province will balloon to 1-billion pesos (US$23-M) if the previous loan obtained by his predecessor, his wife, Gov. Sally Lee, is added to it. He said a new slogan “Utang Sorsogon” will be added to “Bangon Sorsogon.”
Frivaldo also questioned the poor judgment of Gov. Lee for appropriating his office with the third highest budget at more than 65-million pesos (US$1.5-M) when the most important offices like the Provincial Agriculture Office, Provincial Cooperative Office, Provincial Nutrition Council, Provincial Social Welfare and Development are only getting P22.0 million (US$.5-M), P700,000.00 (US$16,279), P500,000.00 (US$11,627) and P2.7 million (US$72,790), respectively. Support to education and social services is only P1.9 million (US$44,186).
Frivaldo also urged Governor Lee to build a new three-story Sangguniang Panlalawigan building because in the existing SP building when it rains outside, it also rains inside, soaking the Vice Governor, SP Members and secretariat staff.
Another complaint of Mr. Frivaldo is Governor Lee’s disapproval of the six staff appointments in his office that is required under the Department of Interior and Local Government Code while Lee’s wife, Lee’s son, then incumbent Sorsogon City Vice Mayor and Lee’s grandson, SK Federation President are “suppressing opponents/critics of your administration policy.”
If Mr. Frivaldo cannot charge Governor Lee with administrative violation of DILG Code before the Office of the President for grave abuse of discretion, he should initiate a preparatory recall assembly or by registered voters to recall Governor Lee as provided for by the Philippine Constitution.  (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)    /

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