Top General coddles Chinese Drug Lords

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

My posed last Tuesday at the Stadia in Dagupan City to Liberal Party’s vice presidential bet and Sorsogon Congresswoman Leni Robredo: “Bong Bong Marcos in the latest survey of Social Weather Station breathed behind the neck of Senator Chiz Escudero for the vice presidential race. Kayo No. 3. Weeks ago tinanong namin si Chiz Escudero na si Senator Alan Cayetano spent almost 400 million sa TV ads, Bong Bong P103,429,000 kayo P92 million. Si Chiz, P30 thousand pa lang. Sabi ni Chiz ‘di pa daw siya nag papa TV ads kaya hinde siya alarmed sa latest polls. Paano ngayon iyan pag gumastos na si Sen. Chiz sa ads at dadalhin niya si (wife and actress) Heart Evangelista sa sorties all over the country, ‘di ba kayo threatened diyan sa ka province mate ninyo?

Philippines police officials promoted to general rank. Photo Credit: PNP

One of the answers of Robredo, a widow and pretty faced lawyer, was she runs scared in this election.
After the press conference, I bumped into former 5-time Speaker Joe de Venecia.

“Did you like my question to Congresswoman Robredo”

 After he nodded, I told him in a serious demeanour:

 "Wala iyong tanong na iyon Speaker, mas matinde ang tanong ko kay Congressman Manny Pacquiao sa Manila".

 "What did you ask him?" he curiously posed

 I told him when I asked Pacquiao about the status of the Peace and Order situation in Mindanao he told me: "Many Fish like tuna but No Order".

 Old and gasgas na joke iyon, pero first time ata ni Speaker madinig, he had a good laugh.

 Sabi ng mga media men around, first time nilang nakita si Speaker Joe na tuwang-tuwa sa joke na iyon.

Here the second jab to the boxing icon that I told the five times House of Representatives’ top man.

"I told Pacquiao that what I asked was not the Fish but the Violence in Mindanao".

 "What did he tell you?"

"Grabe sir, he said he could not even play the piano and lyre what more of the violin," I said.

The Speaker had a guffaw.

Sammy Losala, broadcaster of DWPR, said we only saw Speaker Joe serious and preoccupied shepherding members of the rambunctious Congress when he was building the Rainbow Coalition to expedite the urgent bills of President Fidel V. Ramos on liberalization of the transportation and telecommunication industries so every Filipinos avail of cheap telephone and air and sea fares, and others but not at this moment that he saw de Venecia heartily enjoying my antics.

War between U.S, China will destroy humanity – FVR

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

A graduate of the elite United States Military Academy and former Philippine president did not believe that the brinkmanship between the United States and China at the Spratly Islands will  result to war.

CAVEAT. Author giving a hardbound book by former U.S State Secretary
Alexander Haig titled "Caveat" to former Philippine President Fidel V.Ramos
 at the Department of Foreign Affairs' satellite office in Pangasinan. Haig
and Ramos are alumni of the United States Military Academy at
West Point in New York.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos said the U.S and China need not plunge themselves to war because it would be mutually assured destruction for them and to the U.S allies in the East Asia Region.

“You visit your homework. I wrote about this since 12 years ago. In the 21^st Century you don’t talked about the 19^th or 20^th Century. Nobody wants war especially World War III because of the massive destruction and the thermal radiation wave of modern weapons,” he stressed to Northern Watch when he graced the inauguration of the satellite office of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Calasiao, Pangasinan.

Ramos cited an instance that the latest hydrogen bomb is 5000 times more lethal than the atom bomb dropped by the B-29 Super Fortress bombers at Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan on August 1945.

“You don’t need a B-29, you just pressed the button. But the U.S study says counter-strike. Somebody has to push the button with the coordination of the 38^th Parallel. With the strike and counter strike all of a sudden all that will disappear,” Ramos, who is known as FVR, said last Sunday.

Grace Poe: Amend Constitution for more jobs

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

POZORRUBIO  - At last a presidential bet courageously acknowledged that amending the Constitution for 100% foreign ownership just like in Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore would generate more jobs among Filipinos.

VIDEO where Philippines Presidential Bet Grace Poe acknowledges to political columnist Mortz Ortigoza's perennial proposal that she is open to amend the economic provision of the Constitution so more foreign investors come to the country and generate more jobs.

Senator Mary Grace Poe told reporters here that how can Filipinos find a job when there are fewer investors that could provide employment in the Philippines.
“Tama ang sinabi ninyo. Bakit? Walang namumuhunan sa atin sapagkat ang ating infrastructure. Paano sila makakarating sa lugar sa tamang oras kung walang utilities (like airport) (You hit the nail on its head on amendment. Why? No one wants to invest in the Philippines because of the lack of infrastructures. How can they punctually arrived on their destination when there are no facilities like airport),” she answered to the pose by Northern Watch how pathetic the country was when it got only U.S$ 6.2 billion 2014 foreign direct investment (FDI) while FDI poured $ 9.2 billion in Vietnam, $ 22.6 billion in Indonesia, $12.6 Thailand, and S67.5 billion in Singapore in the same year according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had already eclipsed the country.
Elected candidates and those running for national office national office shy in giving their unequivocal statement that they are for the amendment of the constitution lest they be accused of perpetuating their stay in public office. 
Poe cited why foreign investors were lukewarm to pour their capitals in the country.
“Una, ang taas ng ating personal and corporate taxes. So bakit tayo mamumuhunan dito ang dami mong babayaran na buwis, doon na tayo mamuhunan sa ibang bayan sa China at sa Vietnam (First, we have a prohibitive personal and corporate taxes. So why they would invest here where they would be burdened with heavy taxes when they could go to China or Vietnam that offer them better incentives),” she said.
She declared that she is open for the amendment of the xenophobic 60-40 percent economic provision of the Philippine Constitution so foreign investors can own 100 percent of the business capitals in the country and not be relegated to the 40 percent as minority stock owners.
“Ngayon, doon sa sinabi mong amendment, ako ay bukas (To your pose to amend the economic provision of the Constitution, I am open for it”), she said.

What now China?

 Philippines offers U.S 8 bases to host weapons

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

At last the Supreme Court just decided on the urgently needed Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). I've been interviewing incessantly Senators like Grace Poe, TJ Guingona, Peter Cayetano, Bong Bong Marcos, others by posing to them we need EDCA like crazy at the height of the encroachment of China on our islets and reefs at the Spratlys and the threats she has on us and our honor.

CHINESE HEADACHE. Hundreds of American made Lockheed Martin F-16 Super Falcon jets. The U.S military
superiority in air and water would be a big problem with China especially many of these assets
would be located at Palawan Islands of the Philippines for immediate action against the
Chinese armed forces in the Spratly Islets and Scarborough Shoals that they encroached from the
Philippines in the past years.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s headline today said: PH offers 8 bases to U.S: Facilities include Clark, Basa, Lumbia, Magsaysay”.
Col. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
said the  facilities offered to the Americans were Basa Air Base in Pampanga province, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province, Camp Antonio Bautista and a naval base in Palawan province, Camp Benito Ebuen and the naval base in Cebu province, Clark Air Base in Pampanga and Lumbia air field in Cagayan de Oro.

 Son of a gun, these bases where American Lockheed Martin F-35 Stealth multiple role jets they called also as Lightning II  would be launched and would be a  game changer (click text and video here)  in case those chink eyed interlopers, whose economy now is in a tailspin, started to fire their surface – air- missiles (SAM) at those American Lockheed Martin F-16 Super Falcon jets and  FA-18 Super Hornet jets or the “spy jet” two jet engines’ P-8 Poseidon  or the Philippine Air Force mini version of a multiple jet trainers cum fighter-bomber-reconnaissance F/A-50 Golden Eagle (we just bought from South Korea) making fly-by at the disputed Spratly islets where lately two huge commercial jets of the Chinese had just landed.

***

A news article I read says: “The Philippines lags behind its neighbours in total international tourism receipts, according to the 2014 Annual Report of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Despite a new high of 4.8 million international tourist arrivals, the country still trailed Malaysia (27.4 million tourist arrivals), Singapore (11.8 million), Indonesia (9.4 million) and Vietnam (7.9 million)”.

My comment:

 The problems in the Philippines, investors for hotels and other tourism related infrastructures like airport, etc are confined to 60% Filipino ownership because the Constitution provides for that xenophobic 60-40 percent arrangement at the expense of the foreigners.  That law discourages  these deep pocketed foreign investors because they are relegated to 40 percent minority control in corporate boards in the country.  These capitalists, who were responsible for the economic leap of Mainland China, Vietnam, Thailand, others are hesitant to pour their monies to develop our tourism industry and lessen the prices or better off the standard of our hotels and airports where they can be constructed on BOT (Build Operate & Transfer) or PPP (Public Private Partnership) basis.

Q & A: Cayetano on Duterte's summary executions, talks with China, Federalism, EDCA

Political Columnist Mortz C. Ortigoza asked recently vice presidential aspirant Alan Peter Cayetano on Davao City’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, his presidential tandem, bravado on media in ordering the killings of suspected criminals, the mayor’s adherence for federalism, Duterte’s moist eye on bilateral talks with China on the Spratlys, and Cayetano’s stance on the Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) when he attended the reunion of his relatives, the mammoth Cayetanos Clan of Pangasinan held in San Carlos City. Excerpts:

KIN. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (extreme left) reading the winners of the raffles he
sponsored early this month for the Cayetano's Clan Reunion in Pangasinan. His
father, a former senator, has roots in the vote rich province. Cayetano is assisted
by Duterte's dead ringer and program host Media Man Atong Remogat and Mortz
Ortigoza - the interviewer of this Q & A.

MORTZ: In case Duterte-Cayetano tandem wins, we know Duterte has the propensity to summary execute suspected criminals, do you foresee the backlash from human rights groups, United States, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Congress, others? Would that backlash a problem in your government?

CAYETANO: Iyong takot sa batas na magiging equal ang tao sa ilalim ng batas at hindi lang ang mahirap ang takot sa alagad ng batas at sa batas kung hinde both mahirap at mayaman ay i-embrace ang batas.

So tama siguro ang word na ginamit mo Mortz na may impression o ang dating na magkakaroon ng massive na human rights abuses o summary killings pag si Mayor Duterte ang president. But actually ito iyong impression na binibigay na maikli lang ang panahon sa news e. Speeches ni Mayor Duterte one hour or one hour- and- a- half so kung pakikinggan mo hinde niya ini-espouse iyon ang sundin na batas. Hinde niya ini-espouse ang summary killings.

Iyong example na binibigay niya pinapatay niya o napatay niya personally pinatay ng Davao police ito iyong lumalaban. So hinde ito summary killing walang human rights abuse dito. And he never evaded ang investigation included din sa CHR (Commission on Human Rights).

Ako paniwala ko titibay ang rule of law under Mayor Duterte at hindi gigiba. Hindi ito magiging shoot out, o maging free-for-all na sabihin mo na criminals basta patayin mo. Hindi ganoon.

M: Supreme Court would be deciding anytime from now the EDCA, what if the Supreme Court dealt EDCA as unconstitutional? Kung ibalik ang EDCA sa Senado to be ratified by the August Body, are you in favour of EDCA?

C: First of all I don’t want to speculate kung ano ang sasabihin  ng Supreme Court. Pero sa akin mas pabor sana dinaan sa Senado. Number two, I’m in favour of EDCA but I do believe that we could not negotiate it much better na maraming lugar around the world na mas maganda ang term na nakuha tayo. Gusto ko rin maiklaro na sa mga lugar na may dispute especially with China, automatic na dapat, kasi ng bumisita si President Obama sa Japan klaro niyang sinabi na pagka kinalaban (ang Japan ng China), ang America ay papasok at lalaban. Sa atin generic ang sinabi. We will defend the Philippine ayaw na very specific. Samantala, meron tayong Mutual Defense Treaty. So, ako ay naniniwala na puwede pang i-strenghten at pagandahin ang EDCA at maging transparent.

M: Sir, Mayor Duterte recently has pronouncement that he wanted a bilateral talk with Mainland China if he becomes president, would you think it could intimidate the U.S, Japan and South East Asian countries that the bilateral talk with both Philippines and China would undermine the military cooperation of these countries among each other and prejudice the $5 trillion a year commercial lanes in the Spratlys? Besides, the U.S has been making fly-by and cruise-by of her jets and battle ships at the disputed islands while our country has been doing good on our law suit versus China at the international tribunal in the Hague.

VP succeeds Prexy, not Binay or Duterte

By Mortz Ortigoza

 Critics of presidential front runner Grace Poe crowed that big financial contributors from the Top Corporations in the Philippines would shun Poe because of the legal spectre she will be disqualified.

Presidential front runner Grace Poe (Left) and her vice presidential
 tandem Senator Chiz Escudero.

Let’s see the probable arguments of Poe’s PR’s spiensministers on how they will parry this argument and still encourage contributors to open the handle of their faucet for the campaign and up to the May 9, 2016 presidential election.

1.      She files a petition for certiorari with grave abuse of discretion of the Commission on Election to the Supreme Court to settle the questions with finality on her citizenship and residency;

2.      Presently, she filed a temporary restraining order which the High Court granted that would usher too for her name to be included in the ballot. So the fuss that she was out of the race is just plain b*llshit.

3.      Litigation at the Supreme Court takes years as based with the cases of other elective officials like those decisions in the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) that have been appealed to the SC that took years and where many of them handed sometime to the petitioners a month before the elective official terms end. Since people rooted for her, as seen in the past surveys where she was No.1, there is a big chance she would be elected.

Lousy Corporate Practices

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Let’s compare the services rendered by these corporations to us and see who among them give the best worth of our money.

Two weeks ago, when the flick Star Wars ’ Episode 7: the Force Awakens had been showed in our place, Robinsons Mall in Calasiao, Pangasinan and CSI Plaza in Dagupan City hosted it.

At the first day of the show, my wife and daughter told me they watched the futuristic film in 3Ds for P170 per ticket.

For those street vendors who sell isaw (grilled chicken intestine) and poso negro (septic tank) “engineers” who also read this column, 3D means a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension to what one has been watching.

On the third day of the film showing, I and my son Nico, 20, and a Star Wars fan since he was three years old, watched the 3D versions of the latest Star Wars' movie at Robinsons for P250 per ticket.

Watching with my son the celluloid screen produced by Disney after it bought it for $4 billion from Lucas Films was sentimental because Nico since he was three years old had been collecting all the CDs of the series of these futuristic films, shown every several years, where I too learned who were Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Maul, C3P0 and BB8, Chewbacca and Jar Jar Binks, and Yoda and Anakin Sky Walker.

Opps did I digress to my ticket’s topic? 
I said earlier each tickets cost each of us P250.

Yes Virginia, P250 and not P170 per ticket as what CSI billed my wife and daughter!

“Why the 3Ds here are expensive than the P170 at CSI?” I posed to my son as David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage and Adam Smith’s “the inefficient perished,” flashed out in my memory after a decade stint of teaching economics in a university in Manila and in Dagupan City.

“Masisira itong Robinsons pag ganito ang presyo nila versus CSI (Robinsons undermined itself with this pricing),” I murmured as we entered the dark hallway for the silver screen.

“Kaya pala P250 kasi may pop corn at soft drink sa paper cup (Geez, now I know why it was P250 because of pop corn and soda),” my son blurted after we retired on our respective seats and after he browsed on the ticket using the light of his cellophane.

It says there P180 for the flick and the P70 for the food.

Our congressmen are better than Zambales' solons

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

In my more than a decade stint as media practitioner, the bursting birthday party hosted by a politician that I attended was the one by then House Speaker Joe de Venecia in early 2000s in Dagupan City and the one in 2011 at the high-end Golden Bay Sea Food Restaurant in Pasay City when he was no longer the top whip of Congress.

Six lanes MacArthur Highways at Urdaneta City in Pangasinan.
This happened through the intercession of former Congressman
Mark Cojuangco (5th District, Pangasinan) to the national 
government.

At his sprawling residence in Dagupan  I saw five or seven roasted calves chopped by the waiters for his literally hungry constituents at the 4th Congressional District to devour and for many of them to ‘balkot” (Pangasinan derisived term for those who wrapped and bring the food home) while the elites, mostly government officials who ingratiate with the Speaker for promotion and favour,  rubbed elbows and patted the backs of each other at the corner as they waited for the rabble rousing top man of the Arroyo Administration descended from the white helicopter he leased from Manila.
His other birthday that was held at the Golden Bay Sea Food Restaurant in Manila saw only the invited elites of the society while the “illeterate Unwashed of the Society” who loved to “balkot” were conspicously absent.
The elites were composed of former President Fidel V. Ramos, many members of Congress who were closed when he was the Speaker, diplomatic community like the U.S and Chinese Ambassadors to the Philippines, lady solons brought by de Venecia's wife Rep. Gina, the members of the media elite like Larry Henares, whom President Ramos introduced to me as half-Ilonggo-half-Pangasinense, and other illustrious members of the opinion section of the national dailies.
As you know the Speaker loved to mingle and discuss with media men worth their salt as he was a journalism graduate of the elite Ateneo de Manila.
All these parties were held for a day or six hours.

Two days and Two Nights Party

Here was the ostentatious party of a politician I attended recently  where for the first time, son of a gun,  all the residents of the entire province were literally invited for a two days bacchanalian feast for people to eat the roasted calves, prawn , ox tongues, fried chicken, variety of tropical fruits served in small plates, others from breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the swanky ground covered by three giant make shift tents that covered hundreds of people sitting on white cloth covered plastic chair and surrounded a red mantled round tables. While they gorged the free foods, bands, one of them the famous Manila pop group Free Style, actors Christian Bautista and Kim Chiu  and stand up comedians entertained them.
I, my son Nico, and broadcaster Harold Barcelona were in another building that hosted the VIP visitors watching the shows and pyrotechnic display as we contented ourselves with the same foods eaten by the governor’s constituents except those sushi bar that provided nigirizushi, makizushi, temaki, other Japanese rice delicacies, where I heartily mixed with Silver Swan, kalamansi, and the hot wasabi paste, served to us by a Bulacan based caterer.