Chiz to Leni: Ask Nielsen why I topped polls despite P30K ads budget

Mort C. Ortigoza

Vice presidential aspirant Francis “Chiz” Escudero rebutted rival Leni Robredo's pronouncement that doubted his thirty thousand pesos budget for television advertisement that caused him to top the series of national surveys.

RIVALS. Independent Vice Presidential bet Chiz Escudero and Liberal Party's
VP aspirant Leni Robredo. Both are Bicolano. PHOTO CREDIT: Rappler.Com 

“She better asked AGB Nielsen because it was the one who did the research,” Escudero, an independent candidate," told me when I met him at the Thunderbird Resort in San Fernando City, La Union  last Wednesday.

Robredo answered me, during her January stomped in Dagupan City, that she did not believe Escudero topped the polls before the start of the February 9 campaign period despite a shoe string budget.

Both rivals are Bicolano.

“I don’t believe that, I saw his ads too on TV,” she told me when I asked her if she did not fear Escudero who spent a minuscule sum and has yet to bring pretty actress wife Heart Evangelist in the campaign trails.

Escudero said that he was nobody compared to the political juggernaut Liberal Party that backed Robredo.

Next PNP’s chief if either Poe, Binay, Duterte, or Roxas wins

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The mayor of a town somewhere in Northern Luzon smarted why the resolution for a loan had been stalled by the provincial board.

Senior Supt Gilbert Cruz, PNPA 1986,
whose patron is Vice President Jojo Binay

“After the resolution was dilly dallied by our councillors, here is the provincial board telling us that we still need the requirements of votes despite the resolution mustered by a majority votes of our lawmakers,” a source told me.

A member of PMA Class 1987. Vice Presidential bet
Chiz Escudero is an adopted member of that class.

A media man privy on this back door anomaly said the mayor should emulate what other mayors have been doing: Give the “Honorables” their share so the resolution passes the review of the Board.

“Mga between P10 thousand to P20 thousand bawat isa diyan ang presyo,” he whispered.

“Mura lang naman pala,” I said.

He added the Board know that the officials of the town earn, too since private contractors who are going to build the projects funded by the loan will give them their S.O.P (euphemism of cut).

***

 Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa, member of PMA Class 1986.

                   Davao City Mayor Rod Duterte's fair haired boy for the top post in the national police.

Rubbing elbows lately with some top brass of the police who were alumni of the elite Philippine Military Academy, I asked them who will be the next chief of the Philippine National Police in case anyone of these presidential candidates wins the May 9 election and takes office in July first of this year.

Remember, incumbent Chief of the PNP Director General Ric Marquez will be retiring from office in August this year.

When I asked if Senator Grace Poe wins who will be her fair haired boy.

 The answer was a member of PMA Class 1987 because vice presidential aspirant Chiz Escudero was an adopted member of the Class.

 "Si Grace was adopted member of PMA Class 1991, any member will be too young for the top post of the national police," he told me when I asked if Poe is not only an adopted daughter of action star Fernando Poe, Jr but of PMA class.

"How about si (Vice President) Jojo Binay in case he wins?" "It would be Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz" another PMYer retorted.

Mar Roxas' ward: Generoso Cerbo, Jr., PMA Class 1984

 Cruz police rank is an equivalent to a full colonel in the military. He is not a PMAyer but an alumnus of the Philippine National Police Academy. "He used to be the chief of police of Binay   in Makati when the latter was the mayor," my source told me.
Cruz is now assigned as the Deputy Director of the Police Community Relation Group.(PCRG).

Culprit why Filipinos are Poor: Population Explosion

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Economic experts said the Philippines lags with South East Asian neighbours Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Filipinos breed like rabbits. PHOTO CREDIT: Rappler.com

To cite data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it says our country in 2014 got U.S$ 6.2 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) only while FDI poured generously at the tune of $ 9.2 billion in Vietnam, $ 22.6 billion in Indonesia, $12.6 Thailand, and S67.5 billion in Singapore in the same year.

Philippines snared more foreign monies in South  East Asia

Since we talk here about foreign monies that benefit our people, the Philippine was not a sissy, as many economics expert painted, on snaring FDI.

 We are Top 2 after Singapore in the burgeoning South East Asian (SEA) economic alliance in getting foreign monies in and outside the Philippines.

Our country is a recipient of a staggering U.S $34.60 billion if we include the U.S $28.40 billion (World Bank) remittances sent by the millions of overseas foreign workers (OFWs), the ballyhooed economic saving grace of the country, in 2014.

So if Vietnam and Indonesia (second and third after the Philippines in the SEA region that send workers overseas) have U.S$21.20 billon and U.S$ 31.15 billion, respectively if we integrate the data from UNCTAD and the remittances list from the World Bank, the Philippines becomes No. 2 after Singapore by ranking who got the most foreign monies.

Despite being the Top 2, probably the first time you read from a columnist, why we are still poor versus Thailand and Singapore despite the $34.60 billion that entered the country and the 6.7 percent Gross Domestic Product last year – dubbed as one of the fastest economic growth engines in the world?

Pathetic Per Capita Income and 9.1 million unemployed

With a per capita income (PCI) of U.S $2,872.5 (World Bank, 2011-2014) versus Thailand and Singapore’s PCI of $5,977.4 and $ 56,284.6,respectively,  we have 6.8 percent unemployment rate or 4, 228,852 unemployed in a labor force of 62, 189,000 according to the Philippine Statistics Office.

But the December 8, 2015 survey of the Social Weather Station said that 9.1 million Filipinos were unemployed.

PCI, by the way, is the mean money income received in the past 12 months computed for every man, woman, and child in a geographic area. It is derived by dividing the total income of all people 15 years old and over in a geographic area by the total population in that area.

This massive number of jobless, aggravated this year by the dropped of the prices of oil in the Middle East, and the runaway population explosion, where ironically the poor bear more children than the moneyed, would aggravate the economic stocks of the poor in the Philippines.

Aggressively Promote Population Control

To arrest the exploding demography, so there would be less poor Filipinos who will compete with the jobs brought by FDI, our growing manufacturing base, the jobs generated because of the remittances of the OFWs, and the business outsourcing firms, the government should aggressively promote population control by giving contraceptives to the people.

But if these dole-outs of condoms, pills, and others will smack head on with the legalities as provided by the Reproductive Health Law, the private sectors through foundations, can play a role on the promotion (just like Trust Condom promoted then on TV as advertisement) or their free distribution.

Let’s emulate Thailand how to reduce our population

Are Actors like Edu Manzano Competent in the Senate?

ARE ACTORS COMPETENT ENOUGH FOR THE SENATE? 

Watch the video below after I quizzed Edu Manzano who runs for the 2016 Philippine Senate Race. But before you click the video, here were the texts of my posers to Manzano - an llonggo like me.

Q: I’m Mortz Ortigoza, political columnist of http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com/ The intellectual class in the Philippines looked down on actors and actresses like Manny Pacquiao, Alma Moreno, Amay Bisaya running for the Senate. They looked at them as an aberration and a big joke that only undermines the integrity of the August Chamber. 

ACTOR. Actor Edu Manzano (blue shirt) with reporters after the press
conference in Dagupan City he and presidential front runner
Grace Poe attended.

My questions, our country faces high employment rate and the solution is to amend the economic provision of the constitution, are you amenable for it? Our country has the highest cost of electricity per kilowatt, are you in favour for the constructions of Nuclear Power Plants to lessen the prices of power? Filipinos breed like rabbits that cause for their penury or kahirapan, are you amenable for a strong population control like aggressive distribution of free contraceptives in the barangays?

Why Grace Poe regains No. 1 slot

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I had an animated conversation recently with a private contractor of a mayor. He told me that when he gambled at the Casino at Clark in Pampanga he saw three town mayors. He said the two mayors, who moonlighted as contractors, too, told him to join them on their table because they lost already P700 thousand.

Photo Credit: CNN

“Nasaan si Mayor X (one of the mayors that benefited on illegal gambling Jueteng)?” I asked the private contractor.

“Nasa private room sa itaas kasama iyong kabit niya na bata, nagpapalipas ng malas,” he answered.

He told me on that night, Mayor X gambled and lost P2 million in that casino.

***

I told friends last week at social media that presidential bet Grace Poe could recover after rival Jojo Binay eclipsed her led in the two surveys in December last year.

Today, the Pulse Asia’s Pulso ng Bayan Pre-Electoral Survey conducted from January 24 to 28 with 1,800 respondents revealed that 33 percent of the respondents would vote for Poe.

Vice President Jejomar Binay who got 23 percent,  Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte  who both garnered 20 percent shared the third spot.

***

Here were my arguments last week at my blog and my prescience:

“Watching the evening news, the foundling issue sympathetically raised by Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno had been played again not only by TV 5 but by the two other major TV stations ABS and GMA-7. Poe also has a TV ad that talks about her father, famous actor Fernando Poe, Jr., being harassed by court cases but at the end was upheld by the Supreme Court as Filipino citizen. "Parang pelikula iyon, bugbog muna si Fernando pero sa huli siya rin ang mananalo," a man quipped at the ads. Then, Comelec included Grace’s name at the official ballot for the presidential race in May 9. The foundling issue argued by well meaning people, effective TV advertisement, and inclusion of Grace at the Comelec's ballot would be the factors she could catapult herself to No.1.

What I'm driving here is I crossed my fingers waiting for the next surveys from Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station if Poe can overtake Binay who became No. 1 in the two polls”.
Tapos na iyong acrimony and brouhaha ng mga kalaban sa disqualification issues. Gasgas na kaya tumataas na ang poll stocks ni Ate Grace Poe, Am I right Atty. Gary Jimenez and Boss Sendong So?

In that January’s poll, Pulse Asia’s President Ronald Holmes said only Poe and Binay experienced “marked movements in their presidential voter preferences between December 2015 and January 2016.”

According to a poll  last December 2015, Poe got a 9-percent increase while Binay had a 10-percent decline.

Roxas spiked by 3 percent while Duterte’s numbers decline by three percentage points.

Poe’s vice presidential tandem Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero maintained his lead having 33 percent voter preference while Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. placed second with 23 percent.

Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo and Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano both landed in the third place with 18 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

Henares rebuffs “Dunkin’ Donuts” protector’s tag

Uncollected P1.56B taxes

By Mortz C.Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY – Despite the expose’ of a disgruntled former Examiner that the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue protects alleged big time tax evader, the latter argued that her omission to collect P1.56 billion was correct and dismissed tag as coddler of “Dunkin’Donuts”.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares cuddles in this cartoon Ms
Marixi Prieto, Secretary of Dunkin Donuts' franchise and
 Chairperson of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“Tatlong reinvestigation na kami sinasabi mali po siya. Papaano mo pipilitin ang isang mali sa isang taxpayer assuming natin na ma-assess ko iyan. Gagawin ng taxpayer pupunta siya sa Court of Tax Appeal ku-kwestionin niya,” stressed by Commissioner Kim Henares after the inauguration of the new revenue district office here.

Othello Dalanon, the resigned BIR Examiner, cited he discovered in his assessment that Golden Donuts, Inc.(GBI), the exclusive Philippine franchisee of the global brand “Dunkin’ Donuts” was liable to pay P1.56 billion after it did not protest the Formal Letter of Demand and Assessment Notice (FAN) of the tax agency.

Dalanon personally reported GDI’s omission to Henares and recommended to her criminal prosecution for tax evasion of GBI under the much vaunted “Run After Tax Evaders” program of the Bureau; but she intentionally did not pursue the fraud case against the company because its secretary – Marixi Prieto who is also the chairperson of the Philippine Daily Inquirer – is President Aquino’s friend, according to Deputy Commissioner Estela Sales.

The former Examiner cited the deficiency tax assessment done by the BIR obtained finality because GDI failed to file a valid protest against the FAN.

Ms. Prieto, Dalanon added, talked to Henares and then BIR Regional and the incumbent Assistant Commissioner Nestor Valeroso on different occasions who both gave leniency to GDI.

Henares intentionally did not collect it, because representatives of GDI complained to her that Dalanon’s assessment was faulty. She, according to Dalanon, ordered two re-investigation.

Dalanon said however that there is no law that authorizes the commissioner to order two re-investigation of a final, executory, and demandable assessment.

Henares assailed Dalanon’s insistence, he reported in the mass media, for her to collect the P1.56 billion.

“Siguro tinanong muna siya bakit siya pursigidong ganito. Ano ba ang nawala sa kanya? So, ano ba ang para sa akin?”

She said how could she insist to collect the sum when what she will be doing is illegal.