Declining numbers of newspaper buyers

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Danny, who owned one of two main newsstands in Dagupan City, told me that newspaper business declines.

My city has a population of 171, 271 according to the 2015 Census. Besides its population this Bangus City has been a watering hole of people in the towns of Central Pangasinan who probably buy their newspapers here.

 “Dati rati nakakabenta ako ng 30 (Philippine Daily Inquirer) pero daily average ko ngayon 15 lang ( I used to sell 30 Philippine Daily Inquirer’s newspapers in the good old days but now I can sell only 15 dailies for an average)," Danny cited

When I asked him how Inquirer’s rivals Philippine Star and Manila Bulletin fair, he told me Philippine Star , majority owned by MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., a media conglomerate controlled by PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, and Manila Bulletin averagely sell eight and four copies a day, respectively.

“Pero ang Bulletin pag Sunday marami bumibili dahil sa job advertisement,” he said.

He told me that the number one community news in the city sells only 20 copies in a week in his stand.
 

“Iyong mga Manila Times, Manila Standard Today, and The Daily Tribune tag isa lang benta ko niyan kada araw. Provincial government ang suki ko diyan,” he said.

I told him this declining number of newspaper buyers is a phenomenon not only in the Philippines but in the U.S, Europe, and Australia.

“It’s because of the internet on their mobile phones and laptops where people can read news for free on those dailies and community newspapers that caused their poor circulation,” I cited.

Besides, Inquirer, Philippines Star, and Manila Bulletin are being given for free when one patronized  fast foods Jollibee, McDonald, and Chowking.

A strategy their publishers resorted to justify the number of their circulation to attract advertisers who sell cars, appliances, others to those crowds A-B-Cs who go to these fast foods and eat.

He told me the hoi-polloi’s newspaper the screaming headlined tabloid, that used to eclipse those major dailies in sale, have suffered too to lethargic circulation.

“Iyong Abante, Bulgar depende sa headlines nila. Iyong dami ng sale nila parehas lang sa Inquirer,” Danny, who had been selling newspapers for decades, said.

***

The nephew of former five-time House Speaker Joe “JDV” de Venecia told us recently media men and former public officials at a coffee house in Robinsons- Calasiao that Dagupan City Vice Mayor Brian Lim should take his time.

“He should not run as mayor in 2019, he bids his time till 2022 when Mayor Belen (Fernandez) ends her last term,” Solo de Venecia opined.

He said that Fernandez has no heir apparent that could threaten Brian’s moist eyes on the mayoralty.
“He would be mayor in 2022,” Solo, who speaks like JDV, quipped.

But a political analyst, who asked anonymity, disagreed on the prognosis of the former Speaker’s nephew.

“The De Venecias (Speaker, former congresswoman Manay Gina, and incumbent Representative Toff) would not allow Brian to be whisked to the mayoralty”.

He said that Mayor Belen and Congressman Toff would swap posts in 2022 to frustrate Lim, an absentee vice mayor, becoming the top executive of the Bangus City.

“Brian as mayor would undermine the chance of the de Venecia’s to prolong their hold in the 4^th Congressional District. Dagupan City’s mammoth numbers of voters are indispensable to the de Venecias. Without them, the de Venecias could just kiss goodbye their future in the congressional office,” he said.

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

Useless Military Check Points in Davao City

By Mortz Ortigoza

Security was tight last Saturday when I passed by Toril in Davao City when I left Kidapawan City through a public utility van.

Soldiers from Task Force Davao flagged all private and public vehicles that ingress the national highway before they reached the city proper.

“Kahit police pa ang nakasakay sa kotse pinapababa at ini-inspection ang mga bags nila,” one of the three Muslim guys who were my fellow passengers, probably college students, quipped in accented Tagalog.

A soldier in the Middle East uses a bomb detector device to check
the cars of terrorists who want to sabotage the tranquility of the area.
Filipino soldiers in bombed prone Davao City use a stick to dig the 
bags of commuters if they hid a bomb there.

They speak the vernacular in difference probably with the mostly Christian passengers in the Toyota Hi Ace Super Grandia used mostly by Mindanaons as common carrier that plies the Cotabato City- Davao City route.

***

I was dismayed about the antiquated system of the military in searching the bags of those who entered Duterte’s City Davao. Since time immemorial I’ve been observing the lack of initiatives of our government in searching the belongings of the commuters and motorists for concealed bomb that have rocked the City for several times in the past. How can a 12 inches stick, son of a gun, used by the soldiers detect an improvised explosive device (IED) in the three different checkpoint hubs they use to dig like idiots the upper portion of the stuffs in the bag? How about the taped packages and the boxes at the back of the van, trunks of the car and bus? How about if there was a bomb hidden at the lower belly pan of the motor vehicles? The government could purchase efficient detectors for these soldiers like those explosive sniffing dogs, hand held metal detector, and car security camera with motion detection device that cost only U.S $150 apiece as shown in the internet. These instruments have been used by the guards at those huge malls' SM, Robinsons, and others, plants of Coca-Cola and San Miguel Corporation, five star hotels, and other top 500 corporations in the country,” I wrote then.

“Madaling malusutan ng bomba itong check points, stick lang ang pinag inspection,” I told the three Muslim guys, who a bit surprised, nodded their heads on my observation.

Since 1981, the Durian City had been staggered by bombs from mostly suspected Muslim terrorists who used the Cotabato City- Davao City route to unleash their nefarious activities.

***

Below is the list of eight past explosions to hit Davao, as reported by Rappler:

In April 19, 1981, Easter Sunday two grenades were lobbed at San Pedro Cathedral.

The bomb killed 17 churchgoers and wounded 157 people; December 28, 1993, Sunday, the San Pedro Cathedral was targeted, with three grenades thrown inside the crowded church that killed six people and wounded 151; Eight hours after the incident, a suspected Christian militant bombed a mosque. No one was hurt; May 16, 2002 an explosion occurred inside the room of one Michael Terrence Meiring, an American, at the Evergreen Hotel. Meiring identified himself as a treasure hunter, and even joked that he was part of the "CIA."; March 4, 2003, unidentified men used an improvised explosive device to bomb the waiting area at the old Davao International Airport terminal (If I was not wrong I just left the airport for Manila when the bomb exploded there – MCO), killing 22 people and wounding 155 others. The government blamed "Muslim terror groups," in particular Jemaah Islamiyah, for the bombing. American and Australian investigators took part in the police investigation of the incident; April 3, 2003, barely a month after the Davao airport bombing, another powerful bomb exploded, this time at the entrance of Sasa Wharf. The incident, which the government blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), killed 16 people, including four policemen and a nun, and injured 46; February 14, 2005, at around 6 pm, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal (DCOTT). The incident killed a 12-year-old boy and left 5 others wounded. The DCOTT bombing occurred almost simultaneously with the bombings in the cities of Makati and General Santos. The Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for it; September 13, 2013, at around 9 pm, two simultaneous explosions rocked movie theaters at SM City in Ecoland and Gaisano Mall of Davao in Bajada. No fatalities. A handful of moviegoers sustained minor injuries. This was followed by explosions in Cagayan de Oro City and Cotabato City in July of the same year; and on September 2, 2016, a bombing at a night market occurred in the City, causing at least 15 deaths and 70 injuries. 

***

Before I proceeded to Davao City for my 11:30 pm flight to Manila, I side tripped at Kidapawan City  from the rustic town of M’lang (town of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and Health Secretary  Paulyn Jean Ubial) and conferred with Mindanao's political kibitzer Luvin Candari about the electoral landscapes of the Southern Island  and the probable congressional, gubernatorial, and mayoral wannabees in the 2019 polls.
We broke breads and quaffed our brewed coffee there at AJ Hi Time Hotel, the watering hole of politicians and bigwigs of Central Mindanao, while I pressed the kibitzer for valuable information I could use on my radio and blog.

Mr. Candari, a school mate in high school, told me that Cotabato Province's outgoing governor Emmylou “Lala” Talino would be running unopposed for the 2019 congressional poll in the province’s Third Congressional District.

“What would happen to Representative Jose “Pingping” Tejada, my town mate in M’lang, he has still reelection to crack,” I posed.

Luvin said that Tejada could acquiesce to the ambition of the governor and run instead for the vice governorship under the ticket of Carmen Mayor Roger Talino, the father of Lala.

“Tejada could do nothing, he was a creation of the governor,” Luvin said.

By the way, according to then Duterte for President’s campaigner Pinol when I met him in Dagupan City, Roger came from Pangasinan.

My bilas Police Chief Superintendent (general in the military) Mariel Magaway told me that during the 2016 election campaign, a bearded man came to him while he was exchanging pleasantries with some generals.

The man introduced (probably saluting them) himself to him.

“Sir, kilala niyo pa ba ako?” the older Talino, the rubber and palm oil Czar of Cotabato, asked the then Colonel Magaway.

“Familiar kayo sa akin manong,” Magaway, a “mistah” at the PMA of PNP Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa, retorted.

“Tao niyo ako noon sa PC (defunct Philippine Constabulary) pa tayo,” the man said.

Talino, just like former Cotabato Province’s Governor Nick Dequina, that former Kabacan town Mayor, and even former U.S Defense Secretary Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel, was a Master Sergeant – the most senior ranked for non-officer in the police and the military.

The Talinos are likened to the Espinos in Pangasinan. They have the political machineries and wherewithal to knockout their opponents come election time.

But according to Candari, comes 2019 the electoral battle field would be exciting as former Mlang Mayor Lito Piñol, the present vice mayor and younger brother of the Secretary (bitter rivals of the Talinos for the governorship), would be duking it out with Roger and outgoing Second District ‘s Congresswoman Nancy Catamco.

“So it would be a threesome, er, three cornered fight in the province,” I quipped as I sipped my Coffee Americano and bit my tuna sandwich which were half the price compared if I went to Starbucks.
Ain't Starbucks in Kidapawan City only cheap Star Apples or Caimito in Tagalog, Luvin told me when I told him we go there.

Can Lito Piñol clash tit-for-tat versus the financial chest of Roger? I asked Luvin.

“Ya, Lito got the wherewithal of hundreds of millions of pesos what with his booming banana and palm oil businesses too,” Candari, a former leader of Duterte for President’s movement, retorted.

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

Is NFA’s boss Aquino a hypocrite?

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

“If National Food Authority's Administrator Jason Aquino signed the approval of the three import permits of rice while he fought for the suspension of its importation through the private sector as they prejudice the price of palay in the middle of the harvest season, was Aquino a hypocrite? My poser to anti-smuggling Samahang Industriya Agrikultura (SINAG) chair when he guested recently my radio program.

EX-ARMY MAN. NFA Administrator Jason Aquino used to be
an Army man. A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy's
Class of 1991.

Rosendo So told me Aquino has a problem.

“Iyon ang isang problema. Kung hinde mo na aprubahan lahat, huwag mo aprubahan,” he stressed.

In his squabble with a cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr. and Undersecretary Maia Chiara Halmen Valdez, Aquino, a PMYer and recommendee of Paulo Duterte, argued as reported by the media that the importation of rice could pull down the price of palay in the middle of a bumper harvest season in March and April this year.

Because of that rift, an angry President Rodrigo Duterte unceremoniously sacked Valdez last April 5 because she threatened the livelihood of poor Filipino farmers.

“Why only sacked Valdez, why not the principal too Evasco?” I asked myself then.

But many were jolted by Aquino’s double speaks when we learned that he had approved last March 10 three import permits of 5,400 metric tons (MT) of the staple  while these cargo ships were sailing to Cebu City and Davao City.

***

Aquino is pushing for government-to-government (G-to-G) importation of one million metric tons of rice to prepare for the supposed rice supply shortage the NFA foresees in the coming months.

Mr. So said he learned in his March 7 Vietnam visits that the Philippine government plans to import 3 Million MT from that country in the next two years.

3 million MT if multiplied to 20 equals to 60 million cavans of 50 a kilo bag of rice.

“Bakit inspite na nangyari me bagong statement na naman ang Vietnam na ang gusto pala ng Pilipinas for two years is three million metric tons or sixty million cavans na bigas. Nawala na ang 35% tariff pag pasok nito alam natin ang NFA rice, pero walang NFA price. Ang nangyari napupunta sa traders iyon,” So, a licensed engineer, cited.

Ortiz to replace Miro as Dagupan's police chief

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – This city will have another chief of police (COP) in another reshuffle conducted by the regional police office in San Fernando City, La Union.

A source closed to Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo Gregorio Perez IV quoted the latter to say that outgoing Officer-In-Charge's COP of this city Superintendent Neil Miro will replace Urdaneta City’s OIC chief of police Superintendent Jackie Candelario while Miro will be succeeded by Supt. Frank Ortiz.

NEW CHIEF. New Dagupan City's Chief of Police Supt. Frank Ortiz (extreme left)
poses with Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez.Ortiz is a member of the Philippine
National Police Academy’s Class of 2003. He hailed from Barangay
Apugan-Loakan, Baguio City.

According to Ortiz he is not certain when will be the date of his turn-over with Miro. He said he was just reassigned from the Intelligence Group at Camp Crame in Quezon City  to the police regional office in San Fernando City and the police provincial office (PPO) in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

“I’m in a floating position at the PPO  now and did not yet know when I will be assigned in Dagupan City,” Ortiz, 40, told Northern Watch. 
But according to a source the turn-over will be on April 10. The early change of command was due to a car accident that figured Supt. Candelario who suffered, according to a press release from the PPO, a dislocated right hip when his Toyota Vios bumped a mango tree in Barangay Maticmatic in Sta. Barbara.The accident ensued at 4:36 in the morning of April 7.
Ortiz is a member of the Philippine National Police Academy’s Class of 2003. He hailed from Barangay Apugan-Loakan, Baguio City.

Before his assignment in Camp Crame he was assigned in a regional intelligence unit in Cebu City.

Source who asked not to be identified said that Ortiz was a protege of Chief Superintendent  Charlo Collado, the new OIC Police Regional Director of Region 1, in an Intelligence Group in Camp Crame.

“He was part of a few selected men brought by Collado when he replaced Chief Superintendent Gregorio Pimentel who was plucked to the Directorial for Intelligence at Camp Crame in a two-star position there”.

This Cabinet Sec resigned after 24 days

 Move out Sueno, Laviña!

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

If disgraced former Secretary Mike Sueno of the Department of Interior & Local Government and ex Administrator Peter Tiu Laviña of the National Irrigation Administration unceremoniously left office for nine months and eight months’ stints respectively from President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration this powerful, Yes Virginia very powerful, government executive left office for just a tenure of 24 days after his president asked him to tender his resignation.

If Sueno was suspected to abet the conclusion of the controversial purchased of an overpriced fire trucks in Austria where he and his family travelled there to make sure the delivery ensue despite a pending case on them in the Supreme Court and his grandson, a police official in Camp Crame, was allegedly reported to be his bagman from tens if not hundreds of millions of pesos in illegal gambling monies, Lavina, according to my source at the NIA, allegedly fleece a percentage of financial share from private contractors who transacted  tens if not hundreds of millions of pesos of projects in the Agency.

So who is this head of an Agency who was sacked, er, asked to resign because his stay in office could embarrass his president? What was his fault?

---

To quench your curiosity, here’s a brief background of the man I took from Wikipidia:

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science major in management in 1981 and was a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps , yes My dear Procopio that old ROTC and not PMA. He also earned a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications , a Master of Military Art and Science from the  Command and General Staff College , and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

In September 2011, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. On April 17, 2012, the president appointed him to be the 18th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

On April 30, 2014, he announced his retirement. He was reportedly yanked out of the DIA after clashing with superiors over his allegedly chaotic management style and vision for the agency. In a private e-mail that was leaked online, the Defense Secretary said that he had heard in the DIA that he got fired because he was "abusive with staff, didn't listen, worked against policy, bad management, others".

On November 18, 2016, he accepted the offer of the newly elected president to head the position of National Security Advisor. Even prior to his appointment as national security advisor, he had already drawn criticism for what sources, from the media, have described as his close relations with Russia, his promotion and popularization of conspiracy theories, and fake news stories during the 2016 presidential election.

On February 1, 2017, ranking members of the six committees of House of Representatives sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense, requesting a Department of Defense investigation into his connection to Russian Today (RT) – a daily in Russia. The legislators expressed concern that he had violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by accepting money from RT. A 2017 report by the Intelligence Community characterized RT as "The Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.

On December 29, 2016, he spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The phone conversation was reportedly viewed by outgoing government who had been briefed on its content by the national investigation agency with suspicion as possibly hatching a secret deal between the incoming president and Russia, which could have violated the dormant (Logan Act) the law that bars unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign powers in disputes with his country. On January 13, 2017, the next day after the story was broken by a media man.

On January 22, 2017, a national daily reported that he was under investigation by government’s counterintelligence agents for his communications with Russian officials. On February 8, 2017, he flatly denied having spoken to the Russian ambassador in December 2016 about the sanctions placed on Russia by his government; however, the next day, government intelligence officials shared an account indicating that such discussions did in fact take place. Following this revelation, his spokesman released a statement that he "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up".

In addition to the government's investigation, A national daily reported that, according to two defense officials, the Army is separately investigating whether he"received money from the Russian government during a trip he took to Moscow in 2015". According to the officials, there was no record that he has "filed the required paperwork for the trip". If he received money without the consent of Congress, he might have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

On February 13, 2017, he resigned as National Security Advisor, following reports on his communications with the Russian ambassador and his misleading of the Vice President about it

Probably after how he was “shabbily” treated by his president, On March 30, a national daily reported that he had offered to testify to the national investigation agency or the Senate and House Intelligence committees in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

In case his expose’ would pinpoint to his president to be part of the conspiracy with the Russian to influence the last presidential election, the president could be sued with impeachment by his enemies in Congress.
Finally to quench your curiosity, the name of the man (trumpets’ sounds) was retired Army General Michael Flynn and the president who was seen protecting him and possibly flirting with Russia, who had sex videos of the prexy as claimed by the CIA, BBC, others, just like Senator Leila de Lima, was Donald Trump of the United States of America.

NOTE: LOOK AT HIS PHOTO BELOW

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

SC decides if appointment of barangay officials illegal

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

I just learned that many congressmen in the Philippines are Korean.

Ombudsman should look on this so these lawmakers could be sued because of their “citizenship” and dismiss them from office.

As you know, just like the president and those senators, a congressman should be natural born when he filled his certificate of candidacy.

Two private contractors who make public roads, bridges, and buildings told me the same story every time they asked the solons (tongressmen) to sign the approval of the projects in their district:

These members of Congress would ask them:  “Magkano Korean?”

***

Barangay chairmen submitted urine samples to the personnel of the City Office
 for Substance Prevention in Cebu City . PHOTO CREDIT: Sun Star 

Different opinions permeate the air nowadays on the legality and illegality of the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to postpone anew the October 23, 2017 election. But this time all barangay (village) officials would be appointed by the president through a committee.

The rai·son d'ê·tre of the appointment is to avoid narcotics monies from drug personalities to influence the outcome of the poll.