Ang nakakatakot na bisyo ng pangungutang ni Marcos

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Ni Nuel M. Bacarra

Mahirap ang walang pera. Sabi nga ni Rosanna Roces sa social media, “Mahirap mawalan ng pera, sa totoo lang. Pera is power. Pag wala kang pera s-it ka, t-e ka.” Ganito marahil ang karanasan niya na sumikat sa paggawa ng pelikula ngunit ngayon ay retirado na.

Sa maralitang komunidad, karaniwan na ‘yung pagungutang sa mga Indiano, “Bumbay” sa karaniwang taguring Pinoy. Madalas dito ay yung may maliliit na tindahan, mga naglalako sa kalye at iba pang may ‘di pormal na trabaho.

Mayroon namang nababaon sa utang, gaya ng ilang kabataang may trabaho na naengganyong kumuha credit card na inilalako ng mga bangko na samu’t-sari ang pangako, tulad ng mababang interes at annual dues. Gayundin ang may debit card.

Batay sa pananaliksik kaugnay sa sikolohiya ng pangungutang, madali ang paggasta dahil inaakalang mababayaran naman ito sa susunod na sweldo. Wala ka nga namang inilabas na pera na direktra sa bulsa kung gamit ang parisukat na plastik. Ang ganitong patibong ay malamang mauuwi sa labis-labis na paggasta. Uulit-ulitin ito at mauuwi sa pagkalulong at sa pagkabaon sa utang, na siya namang nagiging dahilan ng stress, depresyon at iba pang suliraning mental. Karaniwang biktima nito yaong ang mga tinatawag na “young adult” o Gen Z na ipinanganak mula 1997–2012. Sila ngayon ang bulto ng populasyon na karaniwang nagtatrabaho at sila rin ang braket ng populasyon na haling sa online engagement kabilang ang online trade transactions, at social media.

Sa mga maralitang komunidad, sa pabrika, sa palengke, sa paaralan at iba pang lugar sa bansa, karaniwan ang pangungutang dahil pandugtong at pantugon ito sa pangangailangan. Subalit hindi maikakaila na kalakhan ng populasyon ay nakararamdam na pahirap nang pahirap ang buhay sa kabila ng pagiging subsob sa paghahanap-buhay. Karaniwang larawan ito ng Pilipinas noon pa man.

Pero sa usapin ng pangungutang ng gubyerno, walang namamayaning sikolohiya dito kundi bisyo ng paggamit sa posisyon sa gubyerno at turing sa poder bilang personal na bangko.

Ang pinakamalalaking bansa, sabihin nang pinakamayayaman sa mundo, ay siyang pinakamalalaki ang mga pambansang utang gaya ng US, China, Japan, United Kingdom, France at iba pa. Wala namang batayan na makipagsabayan dito ang Pilipinas dahil malalakas naman ang ekonomya nila at relatibong may mataas na pamantayan sa serbisyo publiko, gaya ng serbisyong pangkalusugan, edukasyon, transportasyon at iba pa.

Ang pandemyang tumama sa buong mundo ay isang dahilan kung bakit nanawagan ang United Nations sa mga bansa sa G20 (mga bansang may hawak ng 75% na kalakalan ng kayamanan sa buong mundo) na magluwag sa usapin ng paniningil sa kanilang mga pautang. Pero ito rin ang panahon na nakaupo sa pwesto ang rehimeng Rodrigo Duterte na sumirit ang utang ng bansa mula ₱5.95 trilyon sa panahon ng rehimeng Aquino tungong ₱12.79 trilyon.

Sa loob naman ng dalawang taon pa lamang na panunungkulan ng Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. umabot na ito sa ₱15.02 trilyon. At sa lahat ng presidente mula sa kanyang ama, si Pangulong Marcos Jr. ang nakapagtala ng pinakamalaki ang inuutang na umabot sa ₱101.2 bilyon kada buwan.

Si Marcos Jr. ang pinakamalaking mangungutang. (Infographic ng IBON)

Kung ang problema sa utang ng mga Gen Z ay udyok ng pagiging bulagsak sa pera dahil sa pagsunod sa uso, hilig sa gadgets, madaling mabitag ng mga promosyon ng para sa rewards, ang bisyo sa pag-utang ng rehimeng Marcos Jr. ay udyok ng hangaring higit na makapagpayaman sa poder, mabawi sa pamamagitan ng pangungulimbat ang mga nakumpiskang yaman sa pamilya matapos mapatalsik sa kapangyarihan ang ama niya. Tipikal siyang pulitikong ginagawang negosyo ang kapangyarihan sa gubyerno.

Umiwas ang pangulo sa tanong kung saan ginamit ang pondo sa ipinagyabang niyang 5,500 flood control projects. At sa dami ng mga “proyektong” ito, tiyak na bilyun-bilyon ang gastos dito. Nananatiling walang kahandaan sa mga sakuna ang gubyerno at pakitang-gilas na lamang ang pamumudmod ng ayuda sa mga nasalantang komunidad ng maralitang mamamayan para pagtakpan ang mga hungkag na proyekto.

Ang lantad na mga proyektong pang-impraistruktura ay nakatuon sa serbisyo para sa mga base militar ng US sa bansa at sa pangangailangan ng malalaking negosyo. Mayroong 12 proyekto sa Luzon na popondohan ng aabot sa ₱2.126 trilyon kabilang ang Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas Railway na kabilang sa tinatawag na Luzon Economic Corridor na napagkasunduan ng Pilipinas, US at Japan.

Maganda namang asahan na gaganda ang mga kalsada, daungan at paliparan pero hindi ito para sa mamamayang Pilipino nakalaan kundi para sa mabilis na serbisyo sa negosyo at base militar ng US na ang layon ay hamunin ang China sa gera gamit ang Pilipinas. Nakabalik ang mga Marcos sa poder kaya todo-larga rin ang pangangayupapa nito sa US at pabuya na lamang sa sinusunod nitong interes ng US ang pinanyal na pakinabang sa mga proyekto kabilang ang mga kasapakat nito sa ibang sangay ng gubyerno.

Panawagan ng mga aktibista na tigilan na ng mga politiko ang pork barrel na daluyan lamang ng korupsyon. (N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Imprastruktura ang pangunahing pinagkukunan ng kurakot ng mga pulitiko at nasa panukalang badyet ito sa taguring “unprogrammed appropriations.” At asahan na sa unang kwarto ng 2025, maglalabas muli ang Commission on Audit ng report na magsasabing 30%-40% ng badyet ang kwestyonable ang pinagkagastusan tulad halimbawa ng ₱125 milyong confidential and intelligence fund ni Bise Presidente Sara Duterte at hanggang doon na lamang yun.

Walang napapanagot!

Cybersecurity reliance on US leads to PH insecurity

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By Jezrel V. Curambao

On September 17 and 18, a series of terrorist attacks in Lebanon targeted various kinds of communication equipment, including devices such as pagers and walkie-talkies, resulting in multiple explosions. The blasts have reportedly killed at least 37 people, including two children, and injured 3400 people in Lebanon alone, leaving many with permanent disabilities… ” Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered at UN Security Council on Sept 20.

“There must be an independent, thorough and transparent investigation as to the circumstances of these mass explosions, and those who ordered and carried out such an attack must be held to account,” Türk added.

[Global media reports indicate it was the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) that carried out the attacks that targeted the Hezbollah command structure.—Ed.]

Currently, there are two widely discussed explanations for the explosions. The first suggests that explosive materials were implanted in the communication devices. The second posits that cyberattacks caused the batteries to overheat, leading to the explosions. Both scenarios have frightening implications for the Philippines.

Incidents of large-scale indiscriminate attacks using civilian electronic equipment have raised concerns about overall security. As a country that has seen terrorism within our shores, we feel the pain keenly. It makes us recall, for example, the bombing of the gymnasium of Mindanao State University in December 2023 that killed four people and wounded several others. It would not far-fetched to assume the equipment blasts in Lebanon may be adopted in the Philippines by those who have the means to acquire such sinister technology.

The Philippines isn’t isolated in emergent types of cyberattacks as we are digitally connected to the world. The Microsoft “Blue Screen” incident in July, while it started in Australia, led to a nationwide computer outage, significantly impacting the operations of various institutions, including governments, banks, and airlines, as well as disrupting the daily lives of citizens. Such events highlight the vulnerabilities associated with security issues in the Internet age. The network has become a critical infrastructure in modern society, and when cybersecurity is threatened, it can affect many the Philippines in various ways.

Our country has relatively weak independent research and development capabilities of cybersecurity. Most of the equipment, technology, and network systems used by individuals, the government, and the military are sourced from abroad, specially the U.S. and even China. There were reports that the Philippine security sector also source intelligence and military software from the IDF.

 This reliance from external forces creates vulnerabilities because equipment and technology are protected in a singular way, leading to a weak comprehensive prevention capability. The ongoing cybersecurity cooperation between the PH and the U.S. will further deepen our dependence on the U.S. and strengthen its control over our cybersecurity systems.

Image by Pungu X/Shutterstock

The U.S. has offered four avenues for cooperation in this area. The first involves supplying cybersecurity equipment, systems, and software and American network platforms are available for government use. The second involves providing safety technology and corresponding training. U.S. provides targeted technical assistance in telecommunications and radio communications, core network infrastructure, submarine cables and other areas, and provides security training for our officials and technical staff. The third one involves conducting “security checks” on government network system. U.S. deploys devices in our government network systems to conduct a thorough reconnaissance checking for malware in the system. The last one involves leading our government to cooperate with U.S. security company. The U.S. government recommends us to engagement with U.S. security companies to discuss cooperation.

The above assistance seems to help improve our cybersecurity capabilities but, in fact, our cybersecurity will be deeply controlled by the U.S. and will bring us greater security risks. To mention first, U.S. can obtain our data through equipment and systems. We use the platform and equipment provided by the U.S., so the network traffic must pass through the American gateway. And U.S. is fully capable of decrypting the traffic to obtain all the information data, such as military intelligence, government confidential data, personal privacy, and others. If the U.S. gains control over our national cybersecurity system, it will have significant authority over our military deployments and confidential operations, which poses serious safety risks. Additionally, the explosion of communication equipment in Lebanon serves as a stark warning. Should the U.S. monitor our network equipment, it could jeopardize the safety of both citizens and government officials by facilitating cyberattacks that result in catastrophic equipment failures and explosions.

Moreover, our national protective measures are inadequate compared to those of the U.S. and its enemies such as China. The U.S. supplies network security technology and training for our personnel, which enables them to gain insight into the current state of our security technologies during the process of communication and guidance. Consequently, this means that the U.S. is well-informed about our cybersecurity capabilities, undermining the effectiveness of our network protection efforts. Ultimately, our security measures may be little more than a false set.

In addition, the U.S. will acquire a comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity trends within our systems. The U.S. deploys equipment within our government Intranet infrastructure to analyze and monitor malware by intercepting Intranet traffic. This approach not only allows for the collection of malware information but also provides access to various types of data from all Intranet users. Once the U.S. gains access to our Intranet, it effectively leaves a “backdoor” for long-term monitoring, which equates to relinquishing significant Intranet privileges to the U.S. Moreover, in recent years, the U.S. has faced numerous revelations regarding its Intranet surveillance activities, including the “PRISM” project, which has been tracking online actions and user information abroad for many years.

Last but not least, U.S. companies work with U.S. government to monitor equipment. Similar to the principle of Microsoft’s “Blue Screen,” security companies have extremely high levels of authority. American companies can completely control the computers or other devices that contain the security software directly by updating software. In 2023, the Director of the FBI stated at the “mWISE Cybersecurity Conference” that private enterprises engaged in security cooperation with law enforcement may have their equipment data, which includes software information, accessible to the U.S. government. And the U.S. government has the capability to conduct network intrusions using software that can directly compromise a device’s battery system, potentially causing it to explode. This raises concerns about the expanding scope of governmental influence in cybersecurity practices.

Image by SolarSeven/iStock

In the Philippine government’s bid to protect the country from cyberattacks from the likes of China, relying on strengthened cybersecurity cooperation with the U.S. to enhance our cybersecurity infrastructure is questionable, as it may deepen our dependence on the U.S. Through control of operating systems, electronic devices, and security software, the U.S. could access our sensitive data, raising concerns about our data sovereignty and security. If we don’t comply with U.S., they will sanction and control us through systems and devices, human-operate computer downtime, or conduct a cyberattack that cause the battery to explode, and the consequence would be unthinkable.

We must enhance the autonomy and independence of our cybersecurity efforts by fostering the growth of national network technology companies and advancing technological development. This involves reducing our reliance on foreign technology in critical areas and bolstering the resilience of our essential infrastructure against potential risks. We should apply diversified systems, technologies and software to avoid the systemic risks of a single technical path, and also develop contingency plans to prevent the development of national cybersecurity from being at the mercy of the U.S. #

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This is a contributed article. Analyses and views expressed by the author are his.

Duterte v. Marcos-Romualdez: Marurumi kontra madudungis

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Ni Raymund B. Villanueva

Inaamin ko, nanonood ako ng mga pagdinig sa Senado at sa Kamara de Representante. Walang telenovela o tsismisan sa kanto ang mas ma-drama kaysa mga ito.

Kahapon lamang, dumating sa pagdinig ng House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability si Bise Presidente Sara Duterte. Tulad ng inaasahan, nauwi sa kabalbalan ang sana’y imbestigasyon sa paggasta ng kanyang tanggapan sa confidential funds.

Una, hindi sumumpa si Duterte na ang kanyang sasabihin sa pagdinig ay “katotohanan at pawang katotohanan lamang.” Nagmatigas ito na ang mga witness lamang ang dapat manumpa, hindi ang mga tulad niyang “resource persons” tulad ng nasasaad sa rules ng Kamara. Ipinaliwanag naman ni committee chair Rep. Joel Chua na kahit witnesses lamang ang nabanggit, ang lahat ng tatanungin ay kailangang manumpa ng naayon sa kung paano nagsasagawa ng imbestigayon ang batasan.

Mabilis namang kumampi si Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo kay Duterte at nakakagulat na tila handang-handa sa babanggiting jurispridence.  Hinukay niya ang matagal nang nabanggit noon ng namayapang Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago sa isang pagdinig sa Senado na iba ang kategorya ng resource person at witness at, magkagayon, ay hindi dapat pilitin ang sinuman na ipagkanulo ang sarili sa isang adversarial na proseso.

Sinigenduhan ito ng isa pa nilang kakampi na si Rep. Rodante Marcoleta na sinabing dapat ay hayaan na lamang si Duterte na isumite ang mga kulang na dokumentong hinahanap ng Notice of Disallowance ng Commission on Audit sa kanya.

Dito napikon si Rep. Benny Abante na inakusahan—tama naman—si Marcoleta na tila baga’y sinasaway na nito ang Komite. Pangalawang beses nang nabulyawan itong si Marcoleta ng kapwa kongresista, matapos siyang halos sugurin ng “palaging galit” na si Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano noong nakaraang linggo. (Nakakita ng katapat itong sa Marcoleta sa mga kapwa siga na tulad nina Paduano, Abante, Rep. Romeo Acop at iba pa na magkakakampi naman sa pang-uusig sa mga Duterte at mga kasapakat nila tulad ng ngayo’y nagtatagong si Hermino “Harry” Roque, naka-oblo na Apollo Quiboloy at iba pa.)

Nauna rito, ipinaliwanag ni Rep. Gerville Luistro kumbakit responsibilidad ni Duterte na sumagot sa mga katanungan ng kongresista na may katiyakan na magsasabi ng katotohanan sa pamamagitan ng panunumpa.

Ngunit walang silbi ang pagtatalo ng magkakakampi sa kung ano ang tama. Matapos tumangging manumpa, binasa ni Sara ang kanyang pahayag na may akusasyong ang mga patawag sa kanya at ang hibo ng pagtatanong ay upang mabuo ang mga dahilan upang siya ay mahainan ng impeachment. Dagdag niya, ito ay upang durugin siya sa halalang presidensiyal sa 2028. At saka umalis ang bise presidente para hindi na siya mausisa.

Sa puntong pang-uusig ang mga patawag sa kanya, may tama naman si Sara.

Ang talumpati ni House Speaker Martin Romualdez kamakailan ay patungkol sa kanya. Hindi man tuwirang binanggit, may banta ito ng pagdurog sa kanya at sa dinastiyang Duterte na siya ngayong katunggali nila sa sabong ng mga trapo. Malas ng mga Duterte, nagsilitawan na ang patong-patong na ebidensiya ng maling paggasta nila sa mga pondong ipinagkatiwala sa kanila, sa Tanggapan ng Pangulo, sa Opisina ng Bise-Presidente, sa Kagawaran ng Edukasyon, sa Kamara, at sa Lungsod ng Davao.

Mukha rin naman siyang pinaghahandaan ng mga kakampi ng speaker at presidente. Wala na siyang masulingan kundi ang pagma-malditang hindi na sumagot o sumipot, o kaya’y bastusin ang mga kasapi ng Makabayan bloc na, bilang tunay na political opposition, ay walang pinapanigan sa mga nag-uumpugang shab…, heste, bato.

Huwag lang natin kalimutan: kasalanan din naman ito ng pangkating Marcos-Romualdez. Una, niligawan nila ang mga Duterte na magkampi-kampi sila noong nakaraang halalan. At walang kagatol-gatol nilang ibinigay ang mga kwestiyonableng pondo sa mga Duterte para sa taong 2023. Hindi ba’t si Rep. Sandro Marcos pa ang na nagpanukalang ibigay kay Sara ang kwestiyonableng “parliamentary courtesy” noong 2022 budget deliberations?

Tama rin si Sara na kasama si Romualdez sa may kontrol sa pananalapi ng bayan. Kuwestiyonable rin ang P731 bilyong “unprogrammed appropriations” sa panukalang 2024 general approproriations bill na sertipikadong urgent naman ni Presidente Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Ito ang pinaka-malaking pork barrel ng rehimeng Marcos.

Nagtatawagang marumi ang parehong madungis. Pinapatunayan nito ang kabulukan ng politika sa Pilipinas na tinatawag na burukrata-kapitalismo ng mga aktibista.

Pinapanood ko sa telebisyon at social media at pinapakinggan ko rin sila sa radyo. Ito ay samantalang nag-iisip ako kung paano matutulungan ang aking bayan na mapatigil na ang mga salot na ito. #

Isang kwentong marino

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Ni Nuel M. Bacarra

Kasabihan na sa ating mamamayan na lahat tayo ay may kamag-anak, kaibigan o kakilalang nagta-tratrabaho sa ibang bansa. Naging paniniwala na nga na maswerte silang nasa ibang bansa dahil malaki ang kanilang kita at higit na mapalad ang kani-kanilang mga pamilya dahil para rin sa kanila ang pangingibang-bayan ng kanilang mahal sa buhay. Katunayan, nagiging bahagi na nga ng ekonomiya ang pera- at karton-padala na nakatuntong sa pagsasakripisyo ng mga Pilipino sa ibayongdgat.

Ngunit hindi lahat ng kanilang kwento ay masaya. Maraming marino o maging land-based na Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) ang nakaranas ng iba’t ibang uri ng pagsasamantala, pang-aapi, panlalait at mga pinsalang pisikal—aksidente man o bunga ng aktwal na pandarahas.

Ilan na ba ang mga dumanas ng kahalintulad na sinapit ni Flor Contemplacion na binitay sa Singapore noong 1995. Mayroong tulad ni Mary Jane Velasco na nasa death row ngayon sa Indonesia. Noong 2011, ang marinong si Farolito Vallega ay binaril at napatay ng mga piratang Somali habang sakay ng isang barkong pag-aari ng German.

Bukod sa mga ganito, marami pang OFW hindi lamang marino ang umuuwing may kapansanan na, biktima ng mga sindikato, dumanas ng pagmamalupit, at iba pa. Partikular sa mga marino o seafarer, napakahirap ng kanilang kalagayan kapag naglalayag. Lagi silang nakasuong sa panganib sa laot, at di na rin miminsan na di na nakakauwi, di na matagpuan.

Kahirapan at Sakripisyo

Hindi gugustuhin ng sinuman ang umalis at iwan ang pamilya para lamang magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. Ang pang-ekonomyang kalagayan na kulang o walang pantustos sa pamilya ay nagtutulak na batayan para maghanap ng trabaho sa labas ng bansa. Sa mas masaklaw na usapin, ang buong bansa ay nakasadlak sa kumunoy ng kawalan ng malikhang istable at matinong trabaho dahil sa imposisyon ng neoliberalismo habang walang tunay na reporma sa lupa para sa pinakamalaking sektor ng lipunan na pumapasan ng pagsasamantalang pyudal at malapyudal.

Sa kabilang banda, wala ring programa para sa industriyalisasyon dahil kung mas maralita ang mga Pilipino, mas pabor ito sa mga pulitikong nakikinabang sa pakikipagkutsabahan sa mga galamay ng imperyalismong US sa bansa.

Isang samahan ng mga marinong Pilipino sa isang rali sa Mendiola. (N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Susuungin ng mga Pilipino ang anumang hirap at sakripisyo para lamang maiangat ang antas ng pamumuhay na meron sa Pilipinas. Titiisin ang lahat kahit isakripisyo ang buhay para lamang sa pamilya.

Kapag nakasampa sa barko, napalaking pag-angkop ang kailangan nilang gawin. Kailangan nilang umangkop sa napakalamig sa isang banda o sa napaka-init na lugar naman sa kabila, depende sa kung saan lumalayag ang kanilang barko. Sa mga panahon na maalon ang karagatan, ang hirap isipin kung paano umaangkop ang mga kababayan nating seafarer sa halos tumatalbog-talbog na pagkalalaking barko dahil sa mga dambuhalang alon at sa tila panunulay nila sa ibabaw ng mga ito.

Ang pagpapalabas sa bansa ng mga may kasanayan at murang lakas paggawa ay isinapatakaran ng estado dahil sa malaking ambag nila sa lokal na ekonomya mula pa noong panahon ng diktadurang US-Marcos hanggang ngayong nakaupo sa kapangyarihan ang anak ng diktador. Mula noon hanggang ngayon, signipikanteng bahagdan ng dolyar na pumapasok sa bansa ay mula sa mga OFW kabilang na ang mga seafarer.

Kargamento

Na-obligang magtrabaho ang mga seafarer kahit sila may karamdaman o naaksidente na sa aktwal na pagtatrabaho. Mapalad yaong ang kontrata ay sa ruta ng Europe dahil lungkot lamang ang karaniwang kalaban nila bagama’t kaunti rin lamang ang pahinga dahil sa tuluy-tuloy na trabaho. Kapag sa Asia at Africa naman, bukod sa sobrang bigat din, kulang ang probisyon sa pagkain at nakararanas sila ng pagkaantala ng kanilang sweldo.

Laging ikinababahala ng mga Pilipinong seafarer kapag naglalayag ang mga barkong pang-kargamento sa rehiyong sumasaklaw sa Gulf of Aden at sa Red Sea dahil sa maaaring madamay sila sa gera laluna kung ang barko ay pag-aari ng Israel. Nangyari na ito nang mabihag ng mga Houthi ng Yemen ang 17 Pilipinong seafarer at walo pang marino mula sa ibang bansa na mga tripulante ng cargo ship na MV Galaxy Leader. Ang barkong pangkargo ay pag-aari ng Great Britain at ginamit sa operasyon ng kumpanya ng Japan na may mahigpit na ugnayan sa isang negosyanteng Israeli. Ang mga Houthi ay sumusuporta sa Palestine na inookupa ng Israel at siyang naglulunsad naman ng henosidyong atake sa Palestine sa tulong ng imperyalismong US. Nagbabala na noon ang mga Houthi na huwag dumaan sa kanila ang mga barkong papunta sa Israel dahil magagamit lamang ang mga kargamento para sa okupasyon at henosidya sa Palestino, subalit namayani ang pagkagahaman sa tubo ng may-ari ng barko.

Nitong Setyembre 3, ipinahayag ni Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac ng Department of Migrant Workers na ligtas ang 17 Pilipinong seafarer at tuluy-tuloy ang pakikipag-ugnay ng Department of Foreign Affairs para sa paglaya nila.

Ganito ang danas na panganib ng mga seafarer. Walang bagyo, walang tag-init. May sakit o wala ay kailangan silang magtrabaho, kung hindi ay bawas sweldo. Kahit sanay sa mabibigat na trabaho ang mga Pilipino sa kalahatan, hindi naman katanggap-tanggap na mas binibigyan ng halaga ang kargamento kahit magkasugat-sugat, mabalda o manganib ang buhay at kalagayan nila. Dapat tiyakin ang tama at sapat na kumpensasyon sa 17 MV Galaxy Leader seafarers, bukod sa kaligtasan nila at makauwi sa Pilipinas nang ligtas.

Magna Carta

Ang ganitong sitwasyon ng mga kababayan nating seafarer ang dahilan kung bakit kailangan ng proteksyon ng sektor. Hindi iilang beses nang dumulog ang mga seafarer sa konggreso, nagprotesta sa lansangan, naglunsad ng mga porum para itanghal ang kanilang gipit at hirap na kalagayan.

Sinuportahan sila ni Rep. Arlene Brosas ng GABRIELA Women’s Party sa Kongreso, kasama ang dalawa pang kinatawan ng Makabayan Coalition. Iginiit ni Rep. Brosas ang mga probisyon kaugnay ng mga proteksyon para sa mga marino sa Magna Carta of Seafarers laluna ang pagtatanggal ng escrow at execution bond. Ang escrow account ay ang kumpensasyon na dapat tanggapin ng seafarer sa naipanalong kaso laban sa may-ari na barko o manning agency sa pinsalang nakamit ng isang marinong nagtatrabaho sa barko pero binibimbin hanggang makaabot sa Korte Suprema ang kaso samantala, ang execution bond ay ang paglalagak ng pondo ng seafarer habang may dinidinig ang kaso.

Si Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas sa isang forum para sa mga seafarer. (N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Ang dalawang malaking usaping ito ang dahilan din kung bakit tatlong beses nang isinalang ang Magna Carta of Seafarers sa bicameral conference committee na ayon mismo kay Brosas ay hindi normal na nangyayari. Minsan na itong ibinalik ng Malacañang sa kongreso. Sa ikatlong botohan, ang Makabayan bloc ay bumoto kontra rito dahil nga na sa halip na maging batas ito para sa proteksyon nila, magiging dahilan pa ito para lalo silang pahirapan.

Nangingibabaw na interes

Ang dalawang usaping ito ang naglalantad sa maniobra ng mga may-ari ng barko at manning agencies kaya hindi talaga ito matatawag na Magna Carta of Seafarers. Hindi ito matatawag na konstitusyunal dahil hindi pantay na nagtatamasa ng proteksyon ng batas ang mga seafarer kumpara sa may-ari ng barko o manning agency.

Dahil nasa Malacañang na, malamang maging batas na nga ito. Pirmahan man ito o hindi ng pangulo, awtomatiko itong magiging batas dahil sa 60 araw na palugit sa pangulo. Aminin man o hindi, ang kamay ng mga may-ari ng barko at ng mga manning agency ang gumalaw sa batas na ito.

Ang isang seafarer na nakauwing naputulan ng dalawang daliri, napilayan, baldado, nabulag ang isang mata, nagkaroon ng malalang karamdaman dahil sa pagtatrabaho sa barko ay hindi na muli pang makakasakay ng barko para magtrabaho. Dahil ang batas na Magna Carta of Seafarers ay hindi para sa kanila.

Panawagan ng mga kaanak ng mga marinong Pilipino. (N. Bacarra/Kodao)

Sa panig ng pamahalaan, hindi talaga uubrang ilagay sa isang batas ang lubos na proteksyon sa mga seafarer na naputulan ng daliri o nabulag. Mapanganib talaga ang gawain ng isang marino. At ang sakuna ay kakambal gawaing ito. Lampas ito sa usapin ng kumpensasyon, ang nagdudumilat na katotohanan dito ay mababawasan ang kikitain ng mga may-ari ng barko at mga manning agency kung puro bayad pinsala sa mga tripulante. Kaya protektado ang interes nila.

Hindi kakayanin ng gubyerno kung mababawasan ang mga kumpanyang magbibigay ng trabaho sa mga Pilipino. Mababawasan ang dolyar na papasok sa kabang-yaman ng bansa. Lalaki ang tantos ng kawalang-hanapbuhay sa bansa at lalong sasama ang imahe nito sa buong mundo.

Ito ang esensya ng labor export policy ng gubyerno. Mas gugutuhin nitong may magtrabahong mga Pilipino sa mga barko para makapagparami pa ng mga kumpanyang magbibigay ng trabaho. At sa usaping ito, lantad ang pagpapahalaga ng gubyerno sa mga barko at kargamento kaysa marinong Pilipino. #

Choking Makabayan social media

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By Diego Morra

Inevitably, the Makabayan Coalition will be attacked with impunity by the trolls and crones of Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio just as its social media accounts were shut down by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) sua sponte, even as it admitted eventually that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) had called for the blocking of such accounts.

NTF-ELCAC, ATC and the Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio diehards are united in keeping Makabayan social media accounts blocked forever for the simple reason that they want their “alternative facts” to be accepted as gospel truth. NTF-ELCAC was created by Rodrigo Duterte in December 2018 through an executive order while ATC was established through a contested law since it exercises quasi-judicial functions like designating terrorists, proscribing them, freezing and snatching their bank accounts and tagging them as non-persons without the benefit of trial under a competent court of law. The ATC is the law itself, to the consternation of jurists who have dismissed its cases for lack of probable cause or the preponderance of inadmissible evidence.

Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio has no love lost for Makabayan, particularly ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, after the coalition uncovered her financial shenanigans at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and discovered the mismanagement of the money of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the disallowances of P13.2 billion of expenditures. As a lawyer, Sara did not play up to par and flunked the smell test. She cannot batter the wall of proof amassed by Makabayan and the sleuths of the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives. What she had was a wailing wall, which heard her grievances and pettifoggery.

After she wrote that letter asking the panel to just decide on what to do with the proposed P2.037 billion budget for OVP next year, she surrendered her fight and forced the house panel to strip her largesse and actual pork barrel to campaign in 2025 on the people’s dime. However, the house was still generous to the absentee vice president as slashed merely P1,303,802,000 from the proposed P2.037 billion OVP budget, leaving her with only P733.198 million, still a gargantuan sum as Sara vowed to make her office operational even with an annual P1 budget. With the recommended P733.198 million budget set to be approved during the plenary, you could sense the gnashing of teeth as Sara’s allies went on overdrive, blasting the Makabayan Coalition and accusing the progressive lawmakers were in cahoots with the Marcoses, Romualdezes and Cos who want to kick out the stubborn Sara.

When the OVP budget hearing heated up, the Makabayan social media accounts, along with the Facebook pages, X and Instagram accounts of their Senate bets and affiliated groups have not been able to upload social media posts in view of restrictions for “violating community standards.” Moreover, social media materials were taken down and the accounts taken down. Blame Facebook, X and Instagram for their unilateral actions and notoriously inept inspectors. Like Elon Musk, they can change the algorithm to reduce the number of likes and followers, thus rendering them purveyors of bogus numbers and information. The narcissist and publicity hound Musk has been notorious in this regard as he bloats his numbers to massage his huge ego.

Among the prospective Makabayan Senate bets, peasant leader Danilo Ramos and fisherfolk leader Ronnel Arambulo had their accounts suspended for reasons known to the Facebook, X, and Instagram enforcers. The Facebook page of Bayan Muna in Mindanao was also suspended recently but was restored later. The X account of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) was also suspended. “The suspension of these accounts coincides with a spike in troll activities aimed at Makabayan representatives in Congress and their supporters,” the coalition added.

The group expressed apprehension over what they claimed as “coordinated attacks meant to disable the online presence of Makabayan and its supporters, even before the election period has begun. “We view these actions are very worrisome as these go against freedom of expression and freedom of association,” Makabayan noted that in 2022, the social media accounts and allied pages of the Bayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) were either suspended or taken down. “This may be a preview of things to come during the actual election period. Freedom of expression advocates must be alerted and must collectively stand against these online attacks.”

While seeking to restore access to these accounts, Makabayan sounded the alarm over intensifying online attacks meant to silence progressive and alternative voices in what is generally an elite-dominated political system. It noted that after Sara boycotted the Lower House hearing, her partisans all came out of the woodwork as if on cue, with a TV broadcaster taking the Sara narrative hook, line, and sinker, and the Duterte zealots on social media slamming Makabayan as if they were Sara, whose flagrant financial mismanagement was the very reason why DepEd and the OVP could not account for the billions of pesos that the Commission on Audit (COA) and the new DepEd leadership seek. With what is happening with social media, they now function neither as neutral nor independent. They simply want the truth to be neutered. Like George Costanza, if they believe the lie, then it is true. #

Charge Dutertes, cohorts for graft

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By Diego Morra

If the Marcos Jr. administration were to be true to its word to throw the books at the people who helped Alice Guo escape to Malaysia, Singapore and then to Indonesia, it should also be committed to haul off the Dutertes, Michael Yang, Sens. Bong Go and Bato de la Rosa to the prosecutor’s office for the key roles, not only in the bloody “war on drugs,” but also for abetting the wholesale violations of Philippine laws by illegal POGOs.

Aside from these mortal sins, the Department of Justice (DOJ) should hold their feet to the fire for the graft-ridden Pharmally scam that caused the loss of billions in the purchases of face masks, the subcontracted face shields deals by the Davao group, as well as the dubious reclamation and dredging projects pursued by Linconn Ong and his principals, and the waste of public money through the confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) of both Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio. ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro has also urged that Sara be investigated for spending P2.7-billion as CIF when she was Davao City mayor.

It has become abundantly clear that the Pharmally scam could not have happened without the indispensable cooperation of the Office of the President (OP), the Department of Health (DOH) and Christopher Lao, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) pencil pusher suddenly thrust into procurement service of the agency to “facilitate” the exclusive Pharmally purchases of China-made masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and the face shield monopoly of the Davao Group. Rodrigo Duterte, now Sen. Bong Go, Michael Yang and Lao operated seamlessly to implement the Covid purchases over the heads of medical and health experts, resulting in the unjust enrichment of Pharmally, which was capitalized only at P625,000 and did not have the capital to import goods worth billions of pesos.

The recent congressional hearing on the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) revealed that the Commission on Audit (COA) had discovered that Sara spent P53 million for the rent or lease of 10 satellite offices and two extension offices under the OVP last year. In 2022, Sara spent P29 million for rent or lease, meaning she was paying P4.4 million monthly. This stumped Quezon City 3rd District Rep. Franz Pumaren who said the rent of the OVP under former Vice President Leni Robredo was P308,700 plus 12% or P345,744 monthly for a Quezon City property that was 5,100 sq. m.

Sara is now under the gun for boycotting the congressional hearing on the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Sept. 10. After saying that the appropriations committee should decide on the DepEd budget, Sara blasted her sworn enemy Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, chairman of the appropriations panel, for allegedly seeking to control P10-billion of the DepEd budget to finance classroom construction. She claimed she thumbed the proposal down. In retort, Co said Sara was deflecting since she cannot defend her own budget and could not provide any rational explanation for the mountain of COA’s disallowances, suspensions and charges on P12.3-billion of DepEd expenditures.

Investigators should be in a position to develop a legal theory on why the POGOs were allowed to proliferate since their operations revved up during the Duterte regime and the same clique that lawyered for Chinese companies were also involved in the shabu trade. The financial wizards that sold cell phones in Mindanao below market prices were the same financial wizards that organized the POGOs in Porac, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac and imported the magnetic lifters that contained shabu. Moreover, they owned large pieces of agricultural property in both towns that suddenly became rural Shenzhens in Central Luzon, complete with extraterritorial police.

The culture of corruption, which is embedded in criminal organizations, has the best fit with the culture of graft that pervades in government like the one led by Rodrigo Duterte, who pronounced in his presidential that he condemns corruption in all its forms and threatened to transform Manila Bay into a sea of red, with the corpses of criminals floating around. He roared “change is coming.” It did come in the form of chump change, in the many scams that were inaugurated on June 30, 2016.

Government will find tons of evidence to hale the Dutertes before the courts of law. With Duterte now reduced to merely threaten anyone without the military and the police to back him, it is the right time to make the law reign supreme and not beholden to a bully past his prime. He has become a dog that is all bark and no bite, a banana short of a bunch. Now, let us see how long he can deflect, project and terrorize. The police operation at the Quiboloy compound showed the teeming millions who would die for Quiboloy and his administrator, Duterte, do not exist. After the disappointing son of god, welcome the non-performing owner of tiny real estate. #

No passport to heaven for Quiboloy

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By Diego Morra

Apollo C. Quiboloy has no passport to heaven and Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio’s hypothesis that he was hiding in heaven was bonkers theory, consistent with all the crazy ideas promoted by the Duterte dynasty in Davao City.

Fact is, Quiboloy was hiding within his 30-hectare kingdom near the Francisco Bangoy International Airport when authorities gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to yield. Faced with the possibility that the 2,000 cops mobilized to hunt for him would finally find him, the “appointed son of god” and “owner of the universe” retracted his vow not to be taken alive. Yet, there are suckers out there who still think that Quiboloy, 74, is divine but could not stop two arrest warrants against him from being enforced.

Talk about him not being arrested, as promoted by his counsel, is a fable. He surrendered, the story goes, and that the police did not capture him. This is a washout, an absurd tale, as the cops took him, processed him like any suspect in criminal cases, and clapped him in a detention cell. Even an appointed son of god and owner of the universe will have his day in court. Remember Shakespeare? Even a mange-riddled dog will have its day. Or its dark night.

Like cult leaders David Koresh of the Branch Davidians and Jim Jones of People’s Temple, Quiboloy doesn’t talk about the scripture but fancies himself as more than an influential religious leader since he endorses politicians, even cranky ones given to disjointed riffing, and encourages his glassy-eyed zealots to vote for them. The synergy of Quiboloy and Duterte is classic, with Duterte guaranteeing Quiboloy getting his kingdom at Tamayong, with the Manobo landowners kicked out and one mercilessly murdered. Quiboloy in turn has gone untouched in Davao City even if his bodyguards and his henchmen have been accused of engaging in the drug trade, with one eventually being punished by New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas.

Again, like David Koresh, who was responsible for the deaths of 85 or his members in Waco, Texas from Feb. 28, 1993 to April 19, 1993 and Jim Jones, who slaughtered 909 of his People’s Temple by forcing them to drink Flavor Aid laced with cyanide and other poisons, Quiboloy is accused of sexual abuse, exploitation of minors and child trafficking. The FBI also slapped Quiboloy with sexual trafficking, forcing members to yield to his sexual advances, wire fraud, dollar smuggling and other crimes. A US court has already indicted Quiboloy and his extradition is in the offing. There is little interest for the current administration to hold him in Philippine jails. He will be more comfortably housed in US federal prisons.

Image from Sec. Benhur Abalos’ post.

Cult leaders like the Ecleos of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) and Quiboloy built megaliths to show how big and strong their congregations are but their foundations are not on bedrocks but on clay, wondrous clay, and eventually liquefaction would destroy them. Valentin de los Santos of Lapiang Malaya (LM) did not build palaces and large edifices that double as “places of worship.” The old man challenged the Marcos regime and demanded that it leave the Palace for abuse of authority and worsening the people’s economic conditions. A deadline to disperse was issued and a massacre ensued, with government suffering one fatality who was hacked by LM members, and scores died in the “rebellion.”

Cult leaders share not only from greed but also lust for sex and power. They claim divine powers and interpret the scripture to justify entering into matrimony with married and unmarried members alike. This was the case of David Koresh, who claimed to be a descendant of King David and thus has dibs to every female belonging to the Branch Davidians. Jim Jones also justified his right to bone People’s Temple members in their Jonestown, Guyana commune after profiting from their labor in his confused “apostolic socialism” in the Latin American badlands. Jones ordered “revolutionary suicide” after his bodyguards killed a visiting US congressman and four of his companions who investigated allegations of labor exploitation, sexual enslavement of both men and women and unjust enrichment of Jones. A total of 909 People’s Temple perished at the altar of Jones’ weird religious dogma on Nov. 18, 1978.

In the case of Shree Bhagwan Rajneesh, the jet-setting Indian cult leader, his army of tangerine or saffron-robed members consider him as their god and gave him scores of millions of dollars to support his luxurious lifestyle along with fleets of Cadillacs and Lincoln Continentals and private jets. Rajneesh was eventually charged with fraud and tax evasion and convicted. He lost his millions, fled to India and died. The chanting devotees who wore beaded necklaces bearing Rajneesh’s face have evaporated, only to reappear as journalists, presidential advisers and promoters of neoliberalism, which is another cult. #

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Diego Mora is a retired journalist.

Opinions expressed in his contributed article above are his own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.

Sara’s secret use of DepEd money

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By Diego Morra

There is something unique in the way Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio spends public money. She just disburses cash without properly liquidating funds placed under her prudent custody. This happened when she secured a total of P221.424 million from the Contingent Fund (CF) of the Office of the President (OP) in December 2022 for the use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP.)

Now, the Department of Education (DepEd) under Secretary Sonny Angara also does not know where the P112.5 million of the Confidential Intelligence Fund (CIF) of the department for 2023 went. On Sept. 2, 2024, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla testified that the money is released quarterly and its liquidation is the job of the head of the agency, who was Sara. The fund was supposedly liquidated but she admitted that only a cover letter for the liquidation is on file with her office.

In the case of the P221.424-million that the OVP spent in the dying days of 2022, the Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance (ND) and ordered Sara to return P69-million of the P73 million for “non-submission of documents evidencing the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities to support the acknowledgment receipts for payments of rewards in cash, various goods, and medicines.” COA was surprised to learn that P10 million of the money went to payment of rewards, P34.857 million for yet another payment of reward comprised of “various goods” and still another P24.93 million for payment of reward in the form of “medicines.”

COA said that P3.5 million of the disallowed P73 million was used to pay for “tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers without specifying that they were intended for the confidential operations/activities undertaken by the OVP.” In short, COA was gobsmacked by the wanton misuse of the money that Sara got from the CF of the OP. Officials handling the CF are accountable for its use. Technically, Sara cannot invoke the argument that the money extended to her was CIF since the OVP was not entitled to it under the 2022 budget. The OVP budget for 2022 has zero provision for CIF.

Why the clumsy reporting for the supposed “rewards” dispensed by Sara for the shadowy figures covered by her imaginary CIF? The answer is simple. It has been Duterte culture to play around with the CIF in Davao City, which appropriated billions of pesos from 2016 to 2022, beating the CIFs of Makati, Quezon City, Manila and Cebu, which are wealthier jurisdictions with bigger revenues than Davao City. CIFs are certainly enticing budget provisions that can readily be misused to pay for battalions of ward leaders, followers and even gunmen tasked to clear the city of unwanted elements. No wonder the COA has been importuning the Dutertes to clean up their messy three-decade-act in Davao City. Their flood of information and eerie arguments about the tangled state of city finances simply do not square.

It is strange how reward money can now be fungible, and millions have been likewise paid out for 132 surveillance operations. OVP surveillance operations are supposed to be covered by Sara’s security detail, which has a separate budget from the Presidential Security Group (PSG). Since Sara has been obsessed with having her own “command,” she now has a sub-unit for her 433 bodyguards, minus the 75 cops that the Philippine National Police (PNP) reassigned. Policemen are organic to the PNP, which can reassign them at any time. Sara is not their boss but she insists she is, and wants the Davao City cops who have served her well should always belong to her stable.

Fortunately for the Republic, Sara was not designated as secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND), which could provide her with a security detail, say a battalion each, from the Philippine Army (PA), Philippine Navy (PN) and Philippine Air Force (PAF.) The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) of the PN can also lend her a battalion. Had she been assigned to the DND, COA would have found it next to impossible to understand the finances of the department since it also covers the operations of military attaches and covert personnel. Give Sara half-a-chance to handle funds for such operations, the irregularities in the CIFs of the OVP in 2022 and in DepEd in 2023 would have doubled or quadrupled.

By presiding over the unwieldy spending at OVP and the strange disbursements at DepEd, it is crystal clear that Sara cannot be entrusted with enormous responsibilities that require honesty and sincerity, particularly as regards money. Which brings us to the question of why she must stick to her post at the people’s sufferance when it has become more than evident that she neither has the intellectual delicacy or moral rectitude required of her office. By fiddling with people’s money and spending it penny-wise and pound-foolish, Sara has impeached herself. She has become the Philippine version of Peter Principle, when those deemed to be extraordinarily competent end up completely incompetent as they rise in the hierarchy. The Dutertes are a prime dynastic example of that management perfidy. #

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Diego Mora is a retired journalist.

Opinions expressed in his contributed article above are his own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.

‘Three Stooges’ gets boot

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By Diego Mora

In the newspaper business, there are hundreds of “hao siao,” a derogatory term that applies to people who pretend to be journalists without having professional training on how to write logically, report and pursue stories to their logical conclusion. These are the unscrupulous elements who don’t know the law of the press and the ethics that govern the conduct of reporters, deskmen and editors.

In the Philippine context, these are the gonzo reporters, who write about themselves and their clients, never about the context of the story from north, east, west and south, from whence the term “news” arose. These are the descendants of Hunter S. Thompson, who wrote “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and who wrote “30” by taking his own life. These are the “AC-DC” reporters and columnists, the Friday corps of collectors at Aduana and those who get allowances from the beats that they cover. Quite different from the “man in white” Tom Wolfe, whose “New Journalism” infected many, these gonzo reporters thought themselves to be the story and their personal narratives were interwoven with what they purported to be journalism.

There were many surprised looks at the Palace when Paulino Gutierrez was named executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) by Malacanang on May 19, 2023 vice Joel Sy Egco, his cohort, a former president of the National Press Club of the Philippines (NPC) and a colleague in the presidential campaign of Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. Egco and Gutierrez featured prominently when Cambridge Analytica was exposed as having assisted the Duterte campaign in mining data from Facebook surreptitiously for the purpose of influencing, or deluding Filipino voters, into choosing the bloviating Duterte as president. Egco moderated the botched press briefing on the “surrender” of Jonila Castro and Jed Tamano, both environmental activists, with the two activists repudiating the script prepared by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an entity created by Duterte, and declaring they were coerced by their captors to “surrender.” The briefing exposed the charade and made the perpetrators of the bad show red in their faces like pigs with lipstick. Egco should stick to red-tagging and abandon all pretenses to being a journalist. He lost the calling when he became a chief red-tagger who also quarrelled with his colleagues over some PR project at DILG.

The final member of the gang tagged as “Three Stooges” by NPC veterans and members of the informal “Philippine Bar Association,” is Benny Antiporda, of Chinese descent and former dentistry student, who had a column for a notorious tabloid, where columnists had to pay their own salaries. As the paper’s publisher declared: “Binigyan ka na ng trabaho, naghahanap kla pa ng sweldo?” Antiporda became notorious for pushing the Boracay in Manila Bay project worth more than P300-million during the Duterte regime at a time when he was an undersecretary at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR.) Freelancing as a psychoanalyst, Antiporda claimed that the dolomite beach adjacent to the US Embassy would mitigate the worsening mental health problems of Metro Manilans. His theory flamed out and the white sand beach is as dark as black cow on a dark night.

Antiporda was shunted off to head the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) by the current regime but little time was wasted as he quarrelled with the agency’s lawyers, whom he threatened to oust for losing their cases and for disobeying orders. But one order NIA technicians followed hesitantly was for them to fix the airconditioners at Antiporda’s mansion. Accused before the Office of the Ombudsman for harassment and abuse of authority, the Ombudsman sided with the complainants, sacked Antiporda and barred him from serving in government again. Controversy hounds Antiporda, who also tried to get seized shipments from the custody of the now-defunct Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) during the Estrada administration. Antiporda was roundly criticized after accompanying a Chinese couple suspected of shabu smuggling to Binondo for interrogation and a scrumptious lunch. The couple evaporated. The Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) was never the same again.

So, you have three ex-NPC presidents after the club’s glory days who flitted from one regime to another, making themselves busy doing nothing during the Estrada, Arroyo, Duterte and the current administrations. Gutierrez’s career at the PTFoMS is hanging by a thread as the People’s Journal axed the reporter-cum-columnist (whatever it is) after imprisoned Bureau of Customs (BOC) intelligence agent Jimmy Guban declared in a recent House hearing that it was Gutierrez who threatened him and his son with harm should he continue to tag Pulong Duterte and his brother-in-law Manases Carpio as the owners of a shabu shipment worth P6.8-billion stashed away in a magnetic filter in 2018.

The lame excuse of Gutierrez was that he only checked on the medical condition of Guban while he was under Senate detention. Gutierrez must have been some VIP to be allowed access to a person under custody. He was such a VIP during the Duterte administration that he could double as a physician to check on Guban’s vital signs. He later claimed that Guban was a notorious BOC intelligence agent. Takes one to know one. However, Palace officials are not pleased with his latest caper and some are seeking Gutierrez’s scalp. The People’s Journal Group, which is owned by the Romualdezes, just could not believe the Gutierrez excuse. After decades doing his bit as a PR operator, Gutierrez still could not create a believable narrative.

More than “cash, coke and champagne,” what unites these three bad examples is their rabid anti-communism. AlterMidya slammed Gutierrez for his ridiculous Jan. 4, 2024 piece on Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who had been detained in Tacloban, writing on his “Paul’s Alarm” column on JournalnewsOnline that “Nais din niyang (United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan) malaman ang sitwasyon ni Franchie (sic) Mae Cumpio, na kasalukuyang naka-detine sa Palo Provincial Jail sa Leyte dahil sa aktibo nitong papel sa lokal na teroristang grupo ng mga komunista.” Gutierrez was supposed to head the PTFoMS but here it was, he red-tagged Cumpio, who was the executive editor of Eastern Vista and a former editor of the University of the Philippines-Tacloban Vista student publication. She was also manager-in-training of the Radyo Taclobanon. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also condemned Gutierrez for red-tagging Cumpio, who was accused of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, a no-bailable offense. “It also shows the absurdity of having a body created for media security in a government task force that actively puts journalists’ security at risk by accusing them of being enemies of the state,” NUJP argued. #

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Diego Mora is a retired journalist.

Opinions expressed in his contributed article above are his own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.

Sara just can’t do anything right

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By Diego Mora

Like his father, Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte typifies what Mao Zedong said were the villains of Chinese society who make trouble and fail, make trouble and fail again until they eventually fall from the precipice.

Take her latest disastrous episode, the “Ang Kaibigan” children’s book that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) wants to publish using a P10-million budget, as if the OVP has everything to do with storytelling and read-alongs. She should have published what is essentially a picture book when she was at the Department of Education (DepEd) but instead, she clashed with classroom walls and teaching aids hanging near blackboards. After she quit her DepEd posting, Sara lost the chance to write children’s books on the taxpayers’ dime.

Next, she posited the theory that journalists and photographers should be banned from airports to prevent them from “intruding” into the privacy of passengers, like her and her entire family when they documented to be leaving the National Capital Region (NCR) when it was being battered by Typhoon Carina on July 24, 2024. But since Sara is not a queen, princess or empress dowager and is instead a lawyer, an elected public official and an equal of any other Filipino citizen, her calamitous suggestion was laughed at and dismissed as part of another hissy fit after a supermoon. Freedom of the press ends where her nose begins.

To refresh her memory, the Philippines is not monarchy and Davao City is not Dutertistan, so she better abide by the rules and stop pontificating that as an elected public official, she can say whatever she wants to say, no matter how ridiculous it is and subversive of decency. She can be as thin-skinned as Donald Duterte, or as “muy grueso” for demanding that battalion-level security force not be touched. It is also typically stupid of the Senate to pass the OVP’s P2.037-billion budget for 2025 with an intact P500-million “intelligence” fund, the kind of money that her father, the unlamented ex-president Rodrigo Duterte denied to former Vice President Leni Robredo. For failing to answer intelligently the queries of a senator about her picture book, the Senate should have scrapped the P10-million allotted for the book. Sen. Risa Hontiveros was accused by Sara of “politicking” when she asked valid questions about the publication of “Ang Kaibigan.”

While the amount appears to be a spit in the ocean compared to the P221.424-million that the Office of the President (OP) released in the dying days of December 2022 to tide the OVP over, it is nonetheless egregious, to say the least, for the OVP to spend P10-million from the taxpayer vault for a book allegedly plagiarized from “Owly: Just a Litle Blue,” the second in a series of children’s books by author Andy Runton and published by Top Shelf Productions since 2004. Eagle-eyed Filipino writer Ninotchka Rosca posted the cover “Owly: Just a Little Blue” and this was the book’s description: “Owly Just a Little Blue is the second book in the graphic novel Owly series by Andy Runton. Owly discovers a new bluebird and decides to build a home to help it. It’s not an easy task to build or to make friends with the new bird family. But, Owly is determined and kind.” So, there’s your case, counsel.

To claim that it has been copyrighted in 2023 does not exculpate the author or the ghostwriter of copying the work of Runton. The striking similarity of Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio’s magnum opus to the work of Runton, which talks of friendship and generosity and the building of homes, cannot escape readers who have already queued in bookstores to buy Runton’s book. The distributor, Scholastic Philippines, has run out of copies. The drawings of Runton’s book will just show the Sara defenders that they have been had by the supposed ghostwriters and illustrators of the picture book.

With Sara’s spokesman saying that the book will cost P50 apiece, the print run would be for as minimum of 200,000 copies, a huge volume if you ask members of the Indie Publishers Collab Philippines, which slammed the privilege accorded Sara while their members have to scrounge for cash to have their work published. “Here we are, burning our brows to come up with exceptional books with a diversity of stories and topics that reflect the Filipino experience and culture, but we only have resources to print and distribute 20 to 300 copies at a time as we rely on our very shallow pockets,” the group said. “We believe our locally-published books are an exceptional addition to public school libraries and contribute to the growth of Philippine literature. But without Duterte’s audacity, will we be awarded a P10 million budget to produce over 20 titles for distribution to over 1,000 public school libraries? We don’t think so,” it added.

Between now and 2028, Sara can crisscross the entire country using the helicopters and jets of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy y Carreon to distribute her “obra maestra” to please at least 200,000 nursery and preschool children and their parents, kith and kin and neighbors, all of them voters, and promote the idea that reading and storytelling shape young minds and make them great minds later on. Yet, the question remains: Why borrow ideas, why copy published books. Being a writer and a legitimate author requires originality, a sense of humor and creativity. These things differentiate genuine authors from ghostwriters. They do put flesh on the bone, not the bone that creates fruit as bad as the tree from whence it came. #