Despite Exposing Binay, Why Cayetano’s Polls Stock Falls

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

A former chief of police (COP) of a city in Northern Luzon said that when he told an anti-jueteng Catholic archbishop that he could not stop the sprouting of illegal number game in the city and the indispensability of jueteng’s payolas to the police he used to apprehend criminals; the bishop told him he understood his plight.

Author in a tete-a-tete with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano

“Huwag mo lang papasukin ang mga big time na jueteng financers outside the province,” the prelate said.

Before he left he gave the COP almost a hundred thousand of pesos.

“Gamitin mo iyang pera pang gas at pang gastos sa police ninyo laban sa mga masasama”.

Ha, ha, ha, with the tax- free funds from the Catholic Church and another tax free hundreds of thousands of pesos a month from jueteng, the bad guys would be a wimp against the cops in the hide and seek game!

*** 

I asked recently the eloquent and inquisitive Senator Alan Peter Cayetano who is the worst nightmare of Vice President Jejomar Binay, why of all those incriminating charges he throws at the Vice President in the sub-committee level of the Blue Ribbon Committee his polls stock falls 5% in June to 1% September this year according to Pulse Asia.

“You have been the one doing the yeoman’s job in exposing the Vice President that cost a significant chunk of his polls stock why that happened to you, too?, “ I posed to him.

Although he is still No. 1 in the polls war, Social Weather Station showed Binay dropped by 15% or from +67 in June to +52 in September this year.

This was what the Senator told me:

“If you’re to ask me to speculate, kung isipin bakit. Alam niyo kung tuwing may makakabangga ako, there are three things in common. No. 1, they are untouchable na matataas na ta-o na nasa poder. No.2 they are usually very popular, and No. 3 they have the means na sira-an ka. So noong nakalaban ko si President (Gloria M.) Arroyo at First Gentleman Mike Arroyo tandaan mo popular pa sila noong time noon. Baka hindi ninyo pa maalaala iyon but once upon a time very popular si GMA. But 2004 nag opposition na kami noong kapapanalo pa lang niya”.

He expounded on his No.2 observation. He said when he  clashed with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on the Christmas bonuses issues among the senators Enrile was at the peak of his popularity thanks to the mileage he got from the impeachment versus Chief Justice Renato Corona when he show cased his prowess on debates and his in- depth knowledge in law and jurisprudence before the hoi-poloi.

Cayetano cited also the timing of his expose’ against Binay and the Vice President’s propaganda juggernaut that trained and blasted its guns to him.

“Ang kanyang dirty tricks department, iyong abugadong kaklase at kabarkada ng kanyang anak pinaylan ako ng plunder. Pina-radyo nila all over the country at pina-front page sa pages ng mga diario ang plunder, etc”.

He said some Filipinos probably smirked on his searching and searing stance on the sub committee level of the Blue Ribbon Committee that investigate the alleged illegal wealth and below board transaction of the Binays.

He said if the people want him to continue exposing the corrupt officials in the country because that is their concern, he said it is an honor to heed their call.

“I’m not fixated (to the presidency) but I’ll continue to do my job then”.

He said however to see in the survey what happen to his presidential stocks in the middle of next year  if the  Filipinos really want him to win the presidential derby in the 2016 poll.

“Ang surveys naman pag makikita naman sabihin pag mataas ka sa survey, tama ang survey. Pag mababa ka mahirap din sabihin na gusto ka ng ta-o pag tingin mo sa survey mababa ka. So ako practical ako na tao, hindi ko inaalis ang pagiging idealistic kahit na practical”.

 *** 

I dropped by recently at the office of the dashing Binalonan Mayor Ramon “Mon Mon” Guico III. Aside from his aggressive infrastructure streaks to make his Northern Luzon’ town an educational, sports, and convention hub (I’ll be writing soon about the opening next year in the town of Henry Sy’s owned SM Hypermarket), we talked about my favorite topic – airplanes.

Mon Mon, a University of the Philippines- Diliman’s Philosophy graduate and a pilot told me he just purchased five brand new Italian made twin engine Technnam P206. Each has a price tagged of X million pesos.

“They can fly even with Blaze Petrol Fuel,” he exclaimed.

He said that he used to have 35 planes and helicopters parked in the tarmacs of Binalonan, Pasay, and Tuguegarao.

I told him that the Philippine Air Force bought a P622 million squadron (18 training aircrafts) of SF-260 FH Marchetti to beef up the training of its pilots.

When I asked him why government and individuals buy planes from Italy instead of the United States, he told me the latter is cheaper but with the same quality with those of the U.S.

“When former President Gloria Arroyo (cousin of his father, former Mayor Ramon Jr.) visited your aviation school and airstrip, I saw huge Russian planes there. What planes are they?”

He said they are LET 410 that can carry 19 passengers and two pilots. He said he got three of them he used to ferry passengers from Tuguegarao to Batanes.

The 39 years old Mon-Mon, who founded the multi-million pesos aviation school when he was in his early 20s, said his school is one of the best in the Philippines.

“Nakita niyo naman and facilities doon”.

When I told him that China would be ordering 5000 commercial aircraft worth U.S$600 billion over the next 20 years to service her burgeoning and progressive population, he told me that taking a pilot profession is the “it course”.

A PAL (Philippine Airline) pilots flying overseas receives half-a-million pesos monthly, while those who pilot Emirates, Saudia, and others gets a million pesos salary per month.

He said many of the alumni of his school have been flying planes here and abroad.

***

When I told him that PAL would be buying three more fuel efficient two-engine U.S made Boeing 777-300ER in addition to its three to replace its gas-guzzling Boeing 747-400 after the U.S Federal Aviation Administration returned its safety rating early this year of the country to Category 1 thus clearing the way for the expansion in the U.S of the Filipino air carriers, he said it takes five years for Boeing to build a plane.

Mon-Mon, who is also a helicopter instructor, said that the fuel efficient version of Boeing’s rival Airbus is A330.

“If Boeing 777 can carry between 314 to 451 passengers, its super efficient aircraft called B 787-8 Dreamliner  can carry 242 passengers”

Boeing B787-9 carries 280 passengers.

 I just read at Reuter’s that the four engines European made Airbus 340s, which are less fuel-efficient than twin-engine jets A330, are expensive to convert  may be broken up and sold for parts if Airbus cannot find a buyer, market experts said.

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).