Bolante is a losing proposition

Like a thief arriving in the dead of the night, former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante is expected to arrive close to midnight tonight on board Northwest Airlines flight 71. Bolante, who’s being tagged as the architect of the 756 million fertilizer fund scam, is expected to arrive at the NAIA. He’ll be turned over by US marshalls to waiting immigration officials, who will then turn him over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The NBI, in turn, will hand Bolante over to the Senate arresting team.

Though Bolante’s counsels appealed to the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the Senate’s arrest warrant, lawyers failed to get it. The Justices are on leave and no one acted upon the appeal. Bolante is expected to spend the night at the Senate holding office.

Many expect Bolante to do the right thing–exposed who really benefitted from the scam. Though the Senate Committee on Agriculture already concluded their probe on the controversy and has established introvertible proof of Bolante’s complicity on the scam, nonetheless, there’s still no closure on the issue.

One thing and one thing alone separates Bolante from greatness and that is fear. For Bolante, his situation is actually not a win-win but a loss-loss.

Bolante does not enjoy the luxury of time. For one, his supposed “protector” is on her last years in office. Like him, Gloria faces a very tough post-term scenario. Her political and non-political enemies have intimated their desire to pursue legal actions against her and her Cabinet officials involved in many of these scams. She might, probably, enter into compromise agreements with the new administration; yet, some sectors might want to continue pursuing legal actions against her and her family.

If she stays in power though, she faces very stiff opposition, even direct violence from democratic groups. If she stays here in the Philippines, she has a big chance of escaping prosecution, provided that she surrenders some “concessions”.

Now, if Bolante seeks succor from other officials, he may yet find himself in bigger trouble.

It’s logical for Bolante to think about securing himself and his family from further harm by just “letting it all out”. Unlike Jun Lozada who was actually forced to go to the other side, Bolante has no choice but go to the other side of the fence. If he fails to avail of this option, he might find himself deeper in trouble.

Tags: fertilizer scam, jocelyn "joc-joc" bolante

CBCP calls for a Revolution; a New Government

The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) just released a strongly worded condemnation of the Arroyo regime. CBCP head Archbishop Angel Lagdameo condemned the Arroyo regime for doing nothing to fight corruption. Lagdameo urged the people to act now and change the government.

This, by far, according to Ricky Carandang, is the strongest denunciation ever by the CBCP against Arroyo. Do we see a snowball of dissent against this regime, with Bolante’s arrival as the starting point? Hopefully, yes.

The rise of the New Patriots have begun.

On second thought…maybe the CBCP is just muscle flexing so that Arroyo strictly followed what she promised—a veto against the Reproductive Health Bill?

Is this another stunt to show Arroyo that CBCP has the numbers and the power of mischief to force Gloria to choose the CBCP over globalist reproductive health bill lobbyists?

Or, maybe, just maybe, this is part of a growing movement of change within Philippine society? Are we seeing the awakening of the Patriots and the beginning of the end of this regime?

Tags: catholic bishops conference of the philippines, cbcp, cbcp condemns arroyo, graft and corruption

RP stocks plunged to lowest in 4 years

Many followed the fearful one

It was a bloodbath. Anxious about the impending return to a veritable financial ice age, investors engaged on what analysts say was a frenetic selling binge yesterday. Trading was so traumatic that it was suspended for 15 minutes just to control the steady slide down south of the exchange.

Two banks, namely Banco de Oro and Export and Import Bank were the biggest losers, after investors dumped their stocks. Investors sold their BDO stocks after the bank reported a 1.3 billion peso loss due to their Lehman brothers’ exposure. While EXIM bank stocks remain very weak in trading.

Fears and uncertainty are gripping the stock market. Investors are quite uncertain if the local economy can really withstand the full effects of a global recession. Some analysts say investor confidence in the leadership of the economy is directly affecting the bourse, since more and more investors are selling now, anticipating a further depreciation of their stocks.

However, some analysts see that investors themselves are lacking money, hence, many of them are dumping stocks seen as “weak”.  A stock that got a 5% depreciation in price is considered weak already.

Analysts say this “losing trend” will continue for many weeks to come, unless a “miracle” happens in the global economy. 

With banks under assault and there’s uncertainty as to the capability of the local economy to really generate internal activity, many investors are pessimistic about the Philippine situation. 

In this kind of situation, investors should shift their focus from equity trading into the money market. The peso is expected to breach the 50 peso to a dollar mark by November and it could further slide into the 51-52 range by the end of the year, leading to the first quarter of 2009. The BSP is not in a very good position to defend the continued slide of the peso since most of its resources are being earmarked for the government’s crisis contingency fund. 

Tags: banco de oro bank, bdo bank, exim bank, philippine stock exchange, rp stock market

Asado o Bola-bolang katotohanan?

Hindi ninyo ba napapansin? Habang papalapit ang pagdating ni Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante, lagi nating naririnig ang katagang “arkitekto” ng fertilizer scam. Maaaring totoo. O maaaring hindi. Pero, ang sigurado–ipinako na ng gobyerno ang lahat ng sisi kay Bolante.

Epektibong istratehiya ito dahil wala na tayong nakikitang midyang nagtuturo kay Gloria bilang totoong mastermind dito. At malamang, talagang si Bolante ang may pakana, pero, hindi ba natin uungkatin kung sino ang talagang nakinabang at maaaring siyang utak ng iskandalong ito?

Sino ang nag-udyok kay Bolante na walang takot na ipatupad ang scam na ito? Nasan ang limpak-limpak na salaping sinasabing itinago at hindi napakinabangan maging noong 2004 elections? 

Maaaring hindi na natin malalaman ang tunay na istorya sapagkat tinapos na ng Senado ang kanilang imbestigasyon at tanging sa Ombusman na lamang ang pag-asa. Pero, sa inaasta ni Merceditas Gutierrez, ang kawalang aksyon ng ahensya sa kabila ng tatlong taong nakasampa ang kaso at malamlam na interes ng taumbayan sa pinuntahan ng kanilang buwis, malamang na mauwi sa wala ito.

Tulad ng karamihan sa mga iskandalong kinasangkutan ng mga opisyales de gobyerno, nauwi sa bula ang perang ninakaw ng mga kawatan. Ilang buwang inabot ang galit ng taumbayan. Pero, pagkatapos nito, unti-unting nawala sa mga pahayagan at nakalimutan.

Habang patuloy ang kawalang katarungan, palaki ng palaki ang pagnanakaw na ginagawa sa atin ng mga kawatan. Habang may nakakatakas sa katiwalian dahilan sa may tiwala sa kanila ang Malakanyang, lumalaki ang nawawala sa kaban ng bayan. 

Magpapatuloy na magpapakapagod tayo sa pagbabayad ng buwis. Hihigit sa sampung milyong Pinoy ang lulunok ng sariling laway at magpapa-alila sa mga dayuhan, makatakas lamang sa napipintuhong kahirapan. At hindi iilan ang kakapit sa patalim, mabayaran lamang ang VAT, sanlaksang buwis, pati na mataas na kuryente’t gasolina, maituloy lamang ang pamumuhay sa ating lipunan.

Sabi nga ng ilan, life goes on. Let’s move forward at hintayin na lamang ang 2010. May pag-asa pa.

Nasasaan ang pag-asa? Pag-asang sa susunod na administrasyon, milyon-milyon na lamang ang kukubrahin ng mga kawatan at hindi na bilyon-bilyon?

Nasasaan ang pag-asa? Pag-asang magiging mumo na lamang at maibabaon sa limot ang mga katiwalian at kawalang-katarungang ginawa sa atin ng kasalukuyang administrasyon? Para na rin tayong nagparaya sa kabuktutan at kahalayan at pagkatapos magpakasarap ng animal na mananambong, tatalikod tayo at sasabihing, may pag-asa pa at kalilimutan ang kapalastanganan sa ating karangalan.

Sa pagbalik ng isang sinasabing kawatan na ni wala tayong narinig na sorry man lang, tanungin siguro natin ang ating mga sarili—bilang Pinoy, okey na ba tayo sa asado o sa bola-bola lang? Ito ba ang kapalit ng 756 milyong pisong pinuhunanan natin ng ating pagod sa pagtratrabaho makapagbayad lang ng buwis? Ang tanggaping ang katotohanan ay maaaring asadong may laman o isang siopao na may bola-bola.

Tags: asado, bola-bola, fertilizer scam, joc-joc bolante

Joc-joc bolante Vigil

NEWS UPDATE: Joc-Joc Bolante failed to board the Northwest Airline flight 71 today. US Immigration says the former undersecretary is still in their custody. He’s expected to arrive Manila 8pm on October 31, 2008.

just help me figure this thing out…

justice secretary raul gonzales says, Joc-joc bolante can’t be arrested because there’s no pending warrant for his arrest. the senate, for its part, says the same thing. bolante is not anymore a government official. he’s considered as a ‘fugitive” from the law, if former senator magsaysay jr. is to be believed, basing on their investigation. the ombusman also said, they are still trying to figure out what case to file against bolante.

question–why is bolante to be turned over to the bureau of immigration and deportation and subsequently to the national bureau of investigation? likewise, i thought bolante is now “on his own”. why is there an official letter coming from the government’s corporate legal counsel reportedly standing as his representative to the supreme court?

bolante enjoys no immunity. he’s not a government official to have escorts. he did’nt violate any immigration law and as gonzales is to be believed, he’s not even a criminal. so, what’s the nbi arresting team for?

again, the palace is playing another word play.

Tags: bolante arrival, fertilizer scam, joc-joc bolante, jocelyn bolante, sec. raul gonzales