Biyernes, Enero 25, 2019

Lobby Money from Oligarchs to Senators Reason New PSA Dies?

  PSA will draw more foreigners to invest in PH and spike jobs  

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN – A former congressman shared the same suspicion of some quarters that senators did not approve the Public Service Act (PSA) because of the lobby monies given by Filipino controlled corporations for their reelection.
“Baka kasama na lahat iyon. Kailangan nila ng explanatory billings,” former ABAKADA Party-List Congressman Jonathan Dela Cruz answered when asked by this writer here if the reason the senators procrastinate to pass in the third and final reading the amendment of the PSA because many of them seek reelection in May this year.
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More foreign investors in the Philippines mean solution if not reduction of the country's unemployment problem and the diaspora of Filipinos in other countries.


 The public perception this happened because these solons need free aircraft to barnstorm the country and hundreds of millions of pesos from these "monopolistic" corporations in telecommunication, power, transportation, and others to fund their campaign expenses. 
The amendment to 100 percent ownership of utilities like transportation, electricity, telecommunications, and others in the Philippines are believed to reduce the perennial unemployment problem of Filipinos and solve the diaspora of 2.3 million of other Filipinos abroad as investors especially the deep pocket foreigners will come in the country and put shops. October 2018 data from the Philippines Statistics Office show that there were 2.2 million Filipinos who are unemployed while there were 2.3 million (September 2017) Overseas Fiilipino Workers (OFWs).
Because of the inaction of the present members of the Senate whose term of office will end at noon of June 30, 2019, it is feared that the amended version of the PSA will be refiled by the new members of the 18th Houses of Representatives and Senate when they commence office at noon of June 31 this year, according to former congressman Dela Cruz.
“Kailangan talaga ayusin iyan. Kasi it involved everything almost everything. On necessary requirements of any bidding transportation, power, water, everything all public utilities. Importante po iyon. Sayang, hindi inayos ng Senate. Maraming hindi naayos ang Senate dahil marami silang hindi naipasa siguro. Babalikan uli natin uli iyan,” Dela Cruz stressed in Filipino.
The House of Representatives approved its third and final version of the PSA on September 8, 2017.

 Representatives Gloria Arroyo, Arthur Yap, Joey Sarte-Salceda, Jose Christopher Belmonte, and Manuel Monsour Del Rosario combined their four bills to make this supposedly economic milestone that will become the magic bullet to solve joblessness in the Philippines.
The Senate members have been delaying its version until today, that is four months before the May 13 this year’s middle term election and  six months before their term ends in June 30, 2019.

When asked by this writer if the procrastination of the senators was because of the lobby fund and the airplanes and helicopters lend to them by big businesses as disclosed by a pilot, Senator Risa Hontiveros said he could be either correct or wrong.

"Ahh, maaring tama kayo o maaring hindi. Alam ninyo naman pag kandidato lalo na pag reelectionist merong kunsiderasyon..."

(READ FULL STORY HERE)
Senator Grace Poe, the Chairman of Committee on Public Service that handles the PSA, told this writer in March last year when the latter cited to her that Congress is to be partly blamed to the death, abused, and raped abroad of Joana Demafiles and other OFWs because Congress did not act to open up the business equities for foreign investors in the PSA.

“Before, the government has to take care of its business, am I right? Now, we are opening it because we are now established. That’s why the telecommunication companies that the president wanted to have a third telco player. We can even have fourth, fifth players so there would be more competition. In the past we need to nationalize because our industries were in infancy.
The government had to invest and we saved the Filipinos would own it but now I think there are more opportunities to everyone”. 
Progressive Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, Mainland China have 100 percent local and foreign ownership that help solved if not reduced their unemployment problem.

Those members of the Senate who are seeking reelection for the May 13 this year’s polls are Senators Poe, Cynthia Villa, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Koko Pimentel, JV Ejercito, and Bam Aquino.
READ MY OTHER ARTICLE:
What Charter Change? Just change the PSA to draw investors

Power of the Gov't to Buy Your Property




By Mortz C. Ortigoza

This is about real property owners who resisted to sell their houses and lands to the government. Can the State forces them to sell at the prevailing price of the area?
A mayor asked me about how Eminent Domain and Expropriation works after some residential and land owners would not acquiesce for his offer for the owner of a Filipino and foreign owned multi billion pesos public utility corporation to buy their lots for the good of the town, province, and the country.

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The presence of the utility will not only lessen the burden of the public but provide hundreds of millions of pesos of revenues every year to the town.
Its industrial presence will not only be a multiplier effect to the bustling activities of the municipality but of the entire province whose economy moves in a turtle pace because of its reliant on still backward practices of agriculture.   
Aside from buying their lands at a handsome prices he cited, they will be relocated to other areas to build their houses for free.
‘Some politicians egged them to stone wall that until now the investors could not start the ground breaking for the construction of the hundreds of billion of pesos utility,” he told me.

Guv'nor bet lost because mayors pocket his monies




By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – One of the reasons why a gubernatorial bet in the eastern part of Pangasinan lost because other mayors  did not distribute to voters the monies he instructed them to do, a high elective official told reporters.
As reaction to the news article by this newspaper’s Guico Nixes Analogy Espino Can Beat Him, the official, who asked not to be named, said that other chief executives of the local government units in the Fifth Congressional District did not distribute  the funds given to them for the voters intended by defeated gubernatorial candidate former congressman Mark O. Cojuangco in the May 9, 2016 election.

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“Binulsa nila ang pera a week before the day of the election,” he cited
Those mayors abused the trust of the former solon by withholding his money for the voters while allegedly accepting that of his rival and spent them to the electorates there, he expounded.
“These mayors took the fund offered by the rival of their benefactor and used them to give to the voters to assure his victory while they pocket the money given to them by former congressman Mark”.
In that election Amado I. Espino, III outpointed Cojuangco by garnering129, 403 votes while the latter settled for 86, 458 votes in the district.
Espino won the general election in the 44 towns three cities' province.
The eight towns and one city’s district has 324,319 voters (November 2018 Comelec data) making her  third in the most number of voters in the six districts' Pangasinan Province. 
It is composed of Urdaneta City, the towns of Alcala, Bautista, Binalonan, Laoac, Pozzurobio, Santo Tomas, Sison, and Villasis.
Urdaneta City has the most numbers of voters with 87, 916 (Comelec November 2018 data)  followed by  Pozorrubio with 47, 659. Binalonan has 36, 717 voters only.

Senator’s Wife Bars By Law To Flaunt Wealth



By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 Pretty actress Heart Evangelista, the fashionable wife of Senator Chiz Escudero, was seen flaunting with a very expensive colorful scarf, a blue top, and a brown collar wrapped and clad on her Aspin bred dog named Princess Panda. 
A reader of the online news' Philippine Daily Inquirer said that the scarf alone from Hermes  has a hefty price of P40,000.
It was a headline of the Celebrities and Showbiz Section of the daily that said: “LOOK: Heart Evangelista’s dog impresses with expensive Hermes scarf”.


 BELEAGUERED celluloid screen actress Heart Evangelista and her pampered Aspin bred dog named Panda (Photo grabbed from Instagram).


Commenter Emy Bautista reacted on the online post on what Heart did  was a faux pas or blunderby showing off her wealth amidst the glaring poverty in the country.
“Wow, isn’t she a wife of a politician? Does she know how many meals she could have bought for the the homeless and the poor people in the slums of Manila. I know she’s very rich and fashion conscious but an Hermès scarf for your dog when you are surrounded by the poorest of the poor. Shame, shame, shame!”.
Ordinary readers and fans of the tinseltown’s  Filipino-Chinese actress immediately lambasted Bautista.
Here the excerpts of the two of them:
Emy Bautista their family, the Ongpaucos are rich before his marriage with Chiz fyi (acronym “for your information” - MCO). CHIZUSSS the brains!” Joel Clint Haguisan commented at the controversial Facebook’s post.
“It's not even her responsibility. Lol (Loud out laugh – MCO) Paki mo ba kung anong gawin niya sa pera niya, for as long as hindi niya kinurakot yung pera, she can do whatever she wants to do with it. It's not like she have to donate every single drop of her money just because she's rich. We don't even know kung may foundation ba siyang sinusuportahan or what. Leave her alone, hypocrite!”scathing remarks by Jessah Trinchera Bacoy.
For me, the fans of Heart or the ordinary commenters were DEAD WRONG.
We have laws on extravagance or ostentatious display of wealth by a public official and a member of his family.

They are the following:
1)    (h) SIMPLE LIVING. – Public officials and employees and their families shall lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income. They shall not indulge in extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth in any form. (Republic Act 6713 or Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employee);
2)    Section 1. LEAD MODEST LIVES. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and LEAD MODEST LIVES (emphasis mine). (Article XI, Philippine Constitution);
3)    Article 25. THOUGHTLESS EXTRAVAGANCE in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency may be stopped by order of the courts at the instance of any government or private charitable institution ( Civil Code of the Philippines).
To those pin heads that immediately drew their guns blazing at the Inquirer.net in defense of the gorgeous Heart Evangelista Escudero, you now know the law.

Basa-basa rin, tee he! 


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(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)