Q&A: Hamas Attacks Worse than the 3 Major Arabs-Israeli Wars – Amb.

Political columnist Mortz C. Ortigoza interviewed recently Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines His Excellency Ilan Fluss. The Ambassador – a former naval officer wore a skullcap or kippah - was accompanied by Consul Moti Cohen when they visited the office of Binmaley Mayor Pete Merrera in Pangasinan. The envoys were in the town to attend the internment of Hamas terrorists murdered caregiver Angelyn Peralta Aguirre,33. EXCERPTS:

Israel Amb. Ilan Fluss interviews by Mortz C. Ortigoza.

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA (MCO): Your Excellency, I'm an avid student of Israel history. From the war against the Arabs in the 1948 Partition, the 1967 Six Days War to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, was the attack of Islamic militants (that killed more than 1,200 Jews) last October 7 the worst that happened in your country?

 AMB. ILAN FLUSS (AIF): It is not the worst which happened in our country compared to those wars, it is the worst attack in our country as the number of casualties in one day since the Holocaust. If we can share the footages of murdering (by Hamas) of the entire families, parents and their children burning in their cars, beheading of babies, beheading of adult (sic) soldiers, butchering innocent people, family, civilians. So these were the atrocities Israel has not seen before. Hamas (wanted) to destroy the State of Israel and to murder all Jews and all Israelis and Hamas is not alone. Hamas is supported by Islamic Jihads and it is supported by Hezbollah which controls Southern Lebanon which is bordering (the) northern part of Israel. They are all supported by Iran which has the same ideology. 

MCO: U S State Secretary Antony Blinken is in Jordan today talking with the Arab world's leaders about the bombings of Israel in Gaza City that saw almost 10,000 dead mostly civilian Palestinians. People around the world have been demonstrating in the streets their anger against the Israelis because of these carnages. If U.S President Joe Biden (aside from the yearly $3.8 billion military aid to Israel, Biden requested U.S Congress this year $14.3 billion mostly in arms for Tel Aviv) asks your country to have ceasefire, would you stop your ground troops inside Gaza City?

AIF: This is purely…. and President Biden is not asking for ceasefire. Will be discussing on humanitarian corridors different other means in order to make it for the civilians. Unfortunately, Hamas is using the civilians as human shields as human shields they were forced to stay in the military zone. We have more than 230 hostages that have been kidnapped Israelis and non- Israelis that to be released by Hamas that nobody seen them for the last month. No. 2, Israel will not allow to have been attacked by Hamas again -- which means no more terror facilities which should be on our border. We cannot accept Hamas on our border and this is supported by the international community. U.S is a very close ally and is trying to help for some of the resolutions. It’s too early to say what’s going to be and what’s going to be the pressure. We really hope to achieve as soon as possible to end this war and to bring peace and development for the Israelis and Palestinians alike. The war is not against the Palestinians. The war is against Hamas which launched this attack.

MCO: What were the benefits from the Israeli government of the four Filipinos killed by Hamas in your country?

AIF: The family also get the benefits and assistance from the Israeli government. Assistance for burial, assistance for the wake and also later for the monthly basis they will be getting income for their parents, their husbands, (and) children. They will be getting monthly income I’ll show to you later the figure they will be getting monthly income from the Israeli government. They will be getting too also special assistance/allowances for medical treatment, for education.

NOTE: On a list of benefits given by Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Fluss to Binmaley Mayor Merrera, the monetary benefits are the following:

Burial and Mourning Expenses

Mourning expenses:                   P112,476.00

Widowhood grant:                           80,780.00

Participation in burial expenses:    72,800.00

Maintenance of the grave:              50,442.00 (Once in every 5 years)

TOTAL:                                               316,498.00

Monthly Benefits

For spouse or common law

    partner                                        P134,749.44 (Amount can be higher

   depending on the number of children)

For bereaved parents

(combined)                                         118,297.06

For single parent                                  94,637.65   

 

     Annual Benefits

Annual convalescence grant             P50,288.00   

 Memorial grant                                     14,182.00   

  

 

PRESENCE, APPEARANCE MATTER IN WINNING ELECTION

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Those who are running for election in the October 30, 2023 village and May 2025 local and national polls could learn lessons how the Americans operate their political campaign.

In Chapter 25 of Rage – a 452 –page’s oeuvre d'art non-fiction by Bob Woodward (Yes Virginia the renowned Washington Post’s correspondent who was the beneficiary of Deep Throat (the scorned for promotion former FBI Deputy Director William Mark Felt whose expose’ to Woodward cost U.S President Richard Nixon to resign from office), seasoned campaign manager Brad Parscale, now 47, told Woodward that before the U.S presidential election in 2020 then President Donald Trump told him: “Presence is so important. He’d say it’s probably more important how I looked when I give a speech than the speech itself”.

Parscale explained that when Trump got a picture with the President of China, he cited that it’s more important than whatever he did there in the meeting. The average voter would think, “Oh, the President’s in China. I feel Safe. We’re not going to war with them”.

The six feet and three inches tall Trump told the six feet eight inches Parscale that appearance matter than to convince more voters to vote for him.

In every photo-op with The Donald, he told him: “Don’t stand next to me. Appearances matter and defined the candidate”.

There were few photos of the two together.

“I’m a master brander,” Parscale told several staff members and visitors that day, Woodward observed.

He said Trump set the themes of campaigning and governing and Parscale’s operation converted these themes along with trump’s tweets into a massive unmatched media blitz of messaging and fundraising.

In the 2020 campaign period, Parscale and his team had already exploited the power of A.I or artificial intelligence that people nowadays are talking.

“Parscale’s operation would test up to 100, 000 message variables in a single day. For example, they tested whether a red or green press-to-donate button raised more money in fundraising. In ten seconds, the AI models could tell them how a particular ad performed compared to the last four million that had been run (sic) before it. They had almost twenty $1 million (P56.84 million in Philippines currency- emphasis mine) fundraising days in a row lately. Trump’s State of the Union Address, held on February 4 had been the biggest day of the year so far with $5.3 million (P301,252,000 – emphasis mine) raised,” Woodward wrote.

He conducted focus groups in 12 different cities in eight states all over the country with over 1,000 people about the presidential race.

One question asked: Would you vote for someone you like but don’t agree with his policies, or would you vote for someone you don’t like but you like his policies?

“One hundred percent said, I’ll vote for the guy I don’t like but like his policies. One thousand to zero,” the campaign manager said.

FILIPINO ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN IS DIFFERENT

Susmariosep! I prayed that my op-ed doesn’t confuse Filipino readers on Parscale sciences to Pinoy candidates who are not deft on A.I and those American campaign strategies but still win election through dancing, baby cuddling and kissing, intimidation and vote buying.

The Flips – our countrymen – are more familiar with trolls who got all the courage to defame and besmirched a rival and his supporters with their scathing remarks and posts treacherously and cowardly done at social media and initiate vote buying called in Pangasinan as “pakurong”.

As I write this column, my errand boy Galman and his pal Balong are grilling two kilos of fat hitos (catfish) because a village candidate and his bets for kagawad (councilmen) are coming in our sitio to ingratiate by treating with booze and finger foods the male voters.

This candidate and his entourage are pressured to spend this early because during the flood brought by the monsoon rains of Super Typhoon Egay and Typhoon Falcon the two candidates for the village chief's post have already generously distributed a tray of eggs and more than a kilo dressed chicken (for the other candidate) and a pack that contained two canned goods, packs of noodles, slice bread and margarine from the reelectionist Kapitan who used the village calamity fund. This fund according to one of the Kagawads was distributed by the Kap alone since those Kagawads – who approved it – are mostly his nemesis.

“Magastos talaga pag tatakbo kang Kapitan (It’s expensive to run for the post of the village chief),” I told Balong who corrected me that the third candidate for the top post prepared three Alfonso Brandy (pegged at P340 each for one liter) and not the cheaper pang masa Emperador Brandy Light (priced at P279 for one liter).

While we talked he was piercing with bamboo sticks the catfish already shrouded with salt to be roasted on the already burning charcoals spread on the iron grills.

I advised Balong and some kagawads that they better buy the cheaper Emperador instead of the Alfonso to treat the hoi polloi.

This poor mathematician calculated: Including the three Emperadors and the two kilos hitos in our smallest sitio, a Kap’s bet has to spend P31, 860 this early with each of the nine big sitios seven one liter Emperadors plus five kilos of hito.

And we’re not talking yet about the vote buying on the eve of the election that some of these councilmember told me to reach P1,000 per voter after I told them in the vernacular: Gaya ba ng huling eleksiyon ang bilihan ng boto dito aabot uli sa P500 (each voter)?

Who said running for a village chief in the Philippines is a cake walk?

Mayor Sinisigawan, Pinapalayas ng Vice Mayor sa Sesyon

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BINMALEY, Pangasinan – Galit na humarap sa isang press conference ang mayor ng bayan na ito matapos siyang palabasin at bastusin kamakailan ng vice mayor sa loob ng sesyon ng Sangguniang Bayan (SB) dito.

“Tingnan po natin Vice Mayor baka sakali gisingin kita sa pagkakamali mo na ikaw ay hindi ka dapat magmura sa ating mayor. Hindi dapat palabasin ang mayor sa session hall. I have also the power na ako ang pweding umatend diyan sa dahilan na that is a supplemental (budget hearing) to support kung meron kayong katanungan ang dapat ko sagutin kung hindi masagot ng ating budget officer,” diin ni Mayor Pedro “Pete” Merrera sa kay Vice Mayor Simplicio “Sam” Rosario na isang mahigpit na political rival matapos mag-krus muli ng landas  sa loob ng session hall ng SB dito Miyerkules ng hapon.

                                  V I D E O

Matapos kilalanin ni Rosario - na nakaupo sa rostrum - ang presensya ng nakatayo na may hawak na mikropono na si Merrera, tinanong ng huli bakit tinawag sila ng vice mayor na manloloko noong sabihin nito kay Budget Office Head Engr. Jeffrey delos Angeles sa nakaraan na hearing na gustong e-revert ng alkalde ang planong pagbili ng P39 million heavy equipment’s Excavator kapalit sa paglipat ng halaga sa P71 million na urgent proposed supplemental budget sa mga social services dito.

MAYOR MERRERA: I am very sad today the Vice Mayor saying na manloloko kami..

VICE MAYOR ROSARIO: Ya..O..

MAYOR: We are not manloloko..

VICE MAYOR: Yes…

MAYOR: Give us respect also. I am the Executive you give also respect. If you’re giving full (by pointing to Budget Head Delos Angeles who was seated) sabihin niyo nanloloko!

VICE MAYOR: You stopped it. I’ll be the one to ask. Jeff e admit sabihin niyo sa lahat iyan coming from his own mouth. Sabi niya baka e –revert iyan (P39 million budget for the heavy equipment’s Excavator). O! Di ko alam iyan. That’s why I am asking the Budget Officer why sinabi niya dito sa amin sa body..

MAYOR: Ya..

VICE MAYOR: Di ba nanloloko nagpapagod kami…

MAYOR: May I ask…

VICE MAYOR: Mayor sandali! You’re here in the S.B..

MAYOR: Yes, I know I know. What is…

VICE MAYOR: Please respect the Sangguniang Bayan..

MAYOR: I’m giving respect you’re not giving respect..

VICE MAYOR: No! I respect you that’s why you’re here.

FEMALE VOICE: Okay let’s settle down first..

VICE MAYOR: I will not give my respect kasi nagsasalita ka e! YOU GET OUT HERE! (beating hardly the wooden gavel to the sound block). YOU GET OUT HERE!

FEMALE VOICE: Point of order!

VICE MAYOR: This is Sangguniang Bayan (inaudible), O common!

FEMALE VOICE: Point of order let's stoppied it!

VICE MAYOR: You're not under us! Huwag mong ipakita na hawak mo kami dito. NO!

(beating hardly the wooden gavel to the sound block).

MAYOR: No, no, no!

VICE MAYOR: GO OUT! I tell you to go out!

Ang budget ay gagamitin sa gastusin sa gasolina ng municipio, tubig, supplies, motorized bangka, training at seminars, persons with disability, local council for the protection of children, crisis situation, scholarship program P5,000 (monthly) stipend, senior citizens at iba pa.

“Oo. Sabi ko sa kanya iyang panloloko pati ako kasi budget office iyon ibig sabihin lahat ng bagay na gusto natin mangyayari rito ako ang nagsasabi which is the priority,” noong tanungin ng Northern Watch Newspaper kung si Angeles ang pinagsabihan ni Rosario.

Bilang isang dating nine years’ vice mayor, pinayuhan ni Merrera si Rosario – isang dating 15 years na alkalde – kung paano magpatakbo ng isang committee hearing.

“Ako ang tatanungin mo ganito iyon Vice Mayor makinig ka para at least alam mo. Alam mo you preside andoon ka alam mo na that’s a committee you addressed the Committee Chairman Buday Cagaoan: “Councilor Buday the committee chairman I relinquished my position as the presiding officer and let our chairman to be one to preside because this is a committee hearing”. Ni-admit mo sa iyong sarili na this is a committee hearing. O, how come you’re still presiding na alam mo na this a committee hearing? This is already a violation of the Internal Rules and Procedures? What is your duty as a VM when this is a committee hearing?”

Ani pa ni Merrera noong siya ay vice mayor hindi niya ginawa na e “usurped” o agawin ang kapayangyarihan ng committee chairman.

“Kahit isa ni hindi ko ginawa iyan. Sabi ko pa nga: Can I joined this committee hearing if granted by the Sangguniang Bayan and so be it I will attend this hearing if not then I’ll go out in respect to the committee”.

Dagdag pa ni Merrera na siga pala si Vice Mayor Rosario taliwas sa sinasabi ng huli sa kanya “na  pala mura” noong siya ay vice mayor pa at mayor noon si Rosario.

“Mahiya naman kayo Vice Mayor! Tingnan ninyo naman ang actuation ninyo? Akala ko parati mo sinasabi iyang si vice mayor (Merrera noon) iyang si vice mayor nagmumura, ikaw pala ang nagmumura e! Ikaw na pala ang nambabastos sa mga tao, ano? Ako na nga ang mayor binastos mo! How much more sa lahat ng mga tao sa bayan kung wala kang respeto sa mayor mo! How much now with our constituents?”

Kahit sinabi na ni Merrera na siya ay makikinig na lang ng hearing ng Committee of Appropriation, hindi pa rin siya pinakinggan ni Rosario na ilang beses hinampas na malakas ang wooden gavel sa sound block at sumisigaw ng ilang beses ng “stopped it!” para patahimikin ang alkalde at e- postphone ang sesyon. Dalawang konsehales ang nag motion to adjourn at sinang-ayunan ng isa kaya hindi na natuloy ang sesyon. 

Life Styles of U.S Military to Filipino Soldiers

 

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

AS SEEN on the photo below, American pilots and non-officers readied themselves to check in at the swanky, classy 5-Star Holiday Inn at Mimosa where Duty Free shops, fancy chain of stores, bars, golf courses, etc abound.

When I asked the bell boy fixing our hotel room if the U.S soldiers checked in too in their hotel during the Balikatan and the recent Cope Thunders where I was part of the mediamen that covered one of it

"Oo Sir, buong second floor ( of the seven- story Quest Hotel ) occupied ng mga Americano," he said about the fancy hotel that bills P8,500 per night.

I was green with envy how rich the Yanks' are. These soldiers were mostly non- officers - from Private to Master Sergeant- while Filipino military officers would shun this daily rate.

The waitress told me too at the bar in the seventh floor, the American cool their heels there while enjoying the free martinis, Long Island, cappuccino, foreign beers like Corona and Heineken and foods there.

When my U S based brother and wife stayed for a few days at the five-star hotel Conrad in Pasay, he told me he saw crew cut young Americans eating at the smorgasbord there. I told him they were U S Air Force personnel probably pilots of the F-16s who joined the Cope Thunder- 1.

Damn, Conrad bills P10, 000 to P12,000 per night and these Yanks' had a good time there through the generosity of the rich American tax payers.

When I rubbed elbows with American officers during the Cope Thunder- 2 in Clark last July, I asked the Yanks' while we ate our lunch.

"Where you stayed here?"

"Hilton! a smiling U.S Air Force's P.R woman Lt. Rebecca Abordo quipped

"Damn!" That's 5- Star while poor Filipino soldiers sleep on the hammocks in the battle field in Mindanao," this political columnist said.

P400-K Barong of a Solon in the SONA

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

A friend in the southern island was awed that a Congressman was garb on the almost P400, 000 barong sewed for him by a famous tailor in Manila. He used the expensive outfit for the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. last July 14. Many Congressmen and Congresswomen try to outdo each other for sartorial elegance in the SONA as if they're in the red carpet during the Oscar's Award in the U. S.

"Expected na iyan sa mga Tongressmen, este, Congressmen kasi maraming silang pera sa S.O.P (euphemism of cut from the more or less billion of pesos government project they each intercede every year to the government departments like the public works and health) from the Contractor," I told my friend.

Even seasoned actresses looked like the assistant of a Congresswoman in a party I attended years ago in Imperial Manila.

"Nagmukhang ukay-ukay ang mga damit nila. Pati sa balat nag mukhang anak araw sila sa kulay ng balat ni Ma'am," I commented how high maintenance was the solon.

Thanks to the cornucopia of wealth around.

CUT FOR THE SOLON

 Here’s a private contractor that would collaborate my thesis that congressmen and their favored contractors rob the coffer that resulted to substandard services and infrastructures to the government.

In a ten million pesos’ farm-to-market road he told me how the folks in the Pinoyland are fleeced into this perennial malpractice.

 “15 percent lang ang tubo ko diyan. 15 percent bigay ko sa congressman, 5 percent sa DPWH (Department of Public Works & Highway) bigwigs and the boys nila to divide, and 10 percent kay mayor,” he enumerated.

He cited that before he wins the bidding for the project at the DPWH, he first gets the nod of the other two bidders – of course because of the imprimatur of the congressman their patron - who would quote the first two highest bids to make the project so they would lose while my source, who bids the lowest ten million projects, wins.

“I will give them P300 thousand to divide among themselves or to those other bidders who are interested to the project”.

When I asked him how much he shell-out to the village chief that will sign their approval of the completion work, he told me he gives the “Kapitan” P5,000.

“Pag maganda ang mood ko at humirit ang kapitan na bigyan din iyong mga kagawad (the nine members of the village’s legislative council), binibigyan ko sila ng P10 thousand”.

To quantify how government funds are pocketed, the narrations say: More than 45 percent goes to those people I mentioned, while the Republic of the Philippines settles for the more than 50 percent or more than P5 million of the P10 million farm-to-market road from the taxpayers’ monies.

My other sources told me that in other projects if the congressman or congresswoman is greedy, government settles for the crumbs or the 40 percent while 60 percent of the funding is divided by the solon and those other vultures.

This scenario of how the public monies, be it P10 million or 100 million are swindled and gouged by these knaves, my informant said, are endemic all over the Philippines.

OUR CONGRESSMEN ARE BOTH KOREAN AND CANADIAN

Congressmen in the Philippines are not only Korean but Canadian whenever they talk with contractors.

CONGRESSMAN: Magkano Korean sa P20 million highway project na iyan?

CONTRACTOR: May P4 million Canadian, Sir Congressman.

American Impression of Filipino Pilots in Cope Thunder 23.2

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

During the media interviews by international and local reporters with the United States Air Force (USAF) A-10 Warthog pilot Captain Liam Baldwin and C-130-J Capt. Cole Wise and Philippine Air Force (PAF) FA-50 fighter pilots Major Ronholp S. Ausa, Major Virgilio K. Villanueva and Capt. Philip Vincent Roy R. Freire (Alternate)  - moderated by PAF Major Joseph Calma (PMA Class 2011 and an Airbus C295 transport plane pilot) – at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Air Base in Pampanga, I posed my question to the Americans.

“Question to the American pilots! How did you find the expertise of our Filipino pilots compared to the American pilots flying the F-16, F-18, F-15 and others?”

American and Filipino combat pilots return to camp at Clark Air Base in Pampanga after their aerial military exercise from Mactan Airbase under the second Cope Thunder 2023. Background is the lethal A-10 Thunderbolt -II low fliying jet. Known too as Tank Killer and Warthog. PHOTO: Mortz C. Ortigoza

Baldwin retorted: “We have the same mission. We trained for air support, strike formation, reconnaissance, air operation, maritime warfare. It’s all the same mission (inaudible) the same mission implementation like the same sights and sounds. Being here exercising in the Philippines with our partners have been super tight as what we actually know. Our combined objectives in the region to be free and the Indo-Pacific Region…"

GMA-7 TV Male Reporter: How did you find our pilots?!

Captain Baldwin: They’re awesome!

Reporters milling the interviewees chuckled.

This Writer: Awesome and handsome.

Capt. Baldwin: I’m sorry?

This Writer: Awesome and handsome!

Reporters milling the interviewees guffawed.

I asked the Filipino pilots if the Korean Thales data link jibed with the data link of the U.S aircraft especially during a conflict with the enemy.

“To the FA-50 jet fighter pilots. FA-50 uses the South Korean data link. Does it jibe with the U.S aircraft’s data link?”

PAF Pilot Major Ronholp S. Ausa: "FA-50 currently uses the data link-16. It is a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) standard data link and it is a common data link for U.S forces".

The question was the result of my blog’s Criminal Liabilitieson the P15.5B Warships I wrote several years ago when the Philippines bought one of the two brand new South Korean made 107 meters long diesel powered 25 knots’ Incheon-class frigates and when Hyundai Heavy Industry (HHI) reneged on the contract to install a Netherland’s Thales- Tactico’s combat management system (CMS). HHI later told the Philippine Navy that it preferred to install the South Korean made Hanwha Systems Naval Shield’s Combat Management System.

“The Korean “Link 16” is unproven and could be vulnerable to Chinese electronic attack,” one of the Naval experts on an online defense forum opined as excerpt of that news article that saw print too in our newspaper.

I’ll give you its illustration:

In case war between Mainland China and allied countries like the Philippines, Japan, and the United States break out, the function of the Netherlands’ Thales-Tacticos CMS is to guide the SSM-700K Haeseong (Sea Star) long-range anti-ship missile fired from one of the frigates to an eluding Chinese warship 200 kilometers away from its location in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

In case the Frigate’s radar envelop could no longer detect the absconding enemy warship, does it mean the U.S $2,347,500.00 (Won 2, 500,000, 000.00 Wikipedia) each cruising missile, likened to U.S made Harpoon, would just plunge to the sea for nothing?

 The answer is in the negative if there is, say, a Japanese F-35B, a stealth supersonic jump jet, based on the helicopter carrier 248 meters long Izumo flying somewhere in the area that will cue and guide, thanks to the CMS, the SSM-700K to destroy the Chinese warship.

Thanks too to both the frigate and the U.S made short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B’s Tactical Data Link (TDL) 16  that connects with each other. War in the West Philippines Sea, in case it happened, would not only gory but efficient as the expensive explosive unleashed by the ship could hit its enemy.

Ignorant Media Men

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The problem with opinion writers in Pangasinan: They know how to write in English but are ignorant about the rules and laws that govern the issue they espoused. The same too with the radio commentators who opined on issue that they have bereft knowledge to it.

For example: They kept repeating for several months now that after the opposition majority councilors in the second class city’s Dagupan slashed from P1.3 billion to P864.9 million the annual budget this year of the beleaguered administration of Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, the city reeled now to the status of a third class municipality. How can Dagupond – a play of word of the city that is always drowned by flood and high tide – became a third class town when the annual appropriation budget of that type of local government unit (LGU) can be compared to Urbiztondo, Pangasinan. The town has a P216 million budget this year according to its mayor when I met him early this year.

An example of a third class city in the country was San Carlos City, Pangasinan in year 2020. It had an annual budget of ₱ 941.4 million. A fourth class city in year 2020 was Alaminos City, Pangasinan because of her annual budget of P703.1 million.

 Those third and fourth class cities should be in the league of Dagupan and not of Urbiztondo. Susmariosep! That’s a far fetch comparison that could put a smirk on the face of a Grade 7 pupil of the Mababang Paaralan ng San Andres Bukid (Lower School of Saint Andrew's Field - according to DWPR Broadcasters Harold Barcelona and Sammy Llusala). Those writers and commentators - not Harold and Sammy - should read the manual of the Department of Finance that classifies the ranks of LGUs in the country.

***

When the ignorant administration of Mayor Fernandez kept refiling through a proposed law the increase of the salaries and promotions of its employees, the lawmaking body –governed by the critical majority opposition councilors- kept rejecting the proposal. When the Mayor assailed the adamant solons, the same media men – without using critical thinking – echoed son of a gun her sentiments.

They did not know that as long as an LGU runs under a reenacted budget like Dagupan City, the Local Government Code (LGC) prohibits it to promote and increase the salaries of its workers.

As what a jurisprudence says:  There will be no creation of positions, no filling of positions, no new programs, projects and no activities in relation to what Section 323 (Failure to Enact the Annual Appropriations) of the Local Government Code (LGC) provides. 

***

 Look how they maliciously savaged Pangasinan Governor Ramon “Monmon” Guico, III when he filed a leave of absence for a trip abroad in June 26 and came back in July 5. The last date was disclosed to me by Provincial Administrator Eli Patague when I bumped into him after the State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) of the gorgeous Bayambang Mayor Mary Clare Judith Phyllis “Niña” Jose-Quiambao in the first class town dubbed as the 5th Capital of the Revolutionary Philippines Republic.

They raised hell on the accountability of the successors in acting capacity of Guico and Vice Governor Mark Ronald Lambino – who also went for a leave of absence -  in case something big happened in the provincial government.

Before I delve how shallow and ignorant on the dynamics of the Temporary Vacancy in the Office of the Chief Executive these members of the fourth estate, please remember that after the duo left their offices their posts were assumed by Board Member Sheila Baniqued as acting Governor and BM Chinky Perez-Tababa as Vice Governor. When BM Baniqued applied for leave of absence, Tababa became the acting Guv while BM Noel Bince became the Vice Guv.

Baniqued, Tababa and Bince became the top two executives to assume office because of the provision: “…ranking in the Sanggunian shall be determined on the basis of the proportion of votes obtained by each winning candidate to the total number of registered voters in each district in the immediately preceding local election (Paragraph D, Section 44 of the LGC).

These muckraking media men questioned who would be the accountable officer if something big and bad happened in the Capitol because of the “whimsical” leave of absence of Guico and Lambino that triggered the series of succession from the members of the SP.

Let’s cite here a man made hypothetical catastrophe where Mr. Provincial Guard XYZ threw the still lighted butt of his cigarette that caught fire on one of the curtains of the governor’s office in the Capitol. The fire swelled and gutted the whole capitol building. The negligence of the guard ensued during the acting capacity of BM Tababa.

Would BM Tababa be accountable in the name of Command Responsibility on the incompetence of Guard XYZ?

We have to define what command responsibility. According to a Philippines statute: Any government official or superior shall be responsible for the crimes or offenses committed by their subordinates in relation to their function or office if the official or superior HAS KNOWLEDGE that a crime will be committed or has been committed.  

If BM Tababa has no knowledge on the patent negligence of the guard, then the latter should be civilly liable and his agency on the damages done based on the principal –agent relationship. If he intended to burn it, then the Republic sues him with Arson under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines and he goes to the slammer with the up to a life time (reclusion perpetua) jail sentence.

The conflagration of the edifice had nothing to do too with Guico having an official travel abroad, in case some reporters and nemesis wanted to blame him, too!

How about the rap that this whimsical “avalanche” of temporary successions has no official turn over or transfer of power from the outgoing official?

Here’s the law whether the power-that-be who left for abroad did not designate his successor:

“When the governor … is temporarily incapacitated to perform his duties for physical or legal reasons such as, but not limited to, leave of absence, travel abroad, and suspension from office, the vice-governor … or the highest ranking Sangguniang … member shall automatically exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive concerned, except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees which can only be exercised if the period of temporary incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days (Parag (a) Section 46 LGC)”.

 “In the event, however, that the local chief executive concerned (governor for example – emphasis mine) fails or refuses to issue such authorization, the vice-governor … or the highest ranking Sangguniang…, as the case may be, shall have the right to assume the powers, duties, and functions of the said office on the fourth (4th) day of absence of the said local chief executive…(Parag (d) Section 46 LGC).

So that’s how temporary position is smoothly made after Congress –where countless of intelligent lawmakers debated for months before they hammered the law for finality –  legislate Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as The Local Government Code of 1991.

In 17 words this I could say to the charivari of these media practitioners: There is a legal mechanic that governed it (temporary vacancy) so it could not result to anarchy, you Clowns!

Sino ang Salarin sa Pagbagsak ng Dagupan?

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA, MPA

Kahit na tumatakbo sa 2022 reenacted budget ang local government unit (LGU) ng Dagupan City dahil naabutan siya ng prescriptive period ng March 31, 2023 para mapirmahan ni Mayor Belen T. Fernandez ang ni vetoed na 2023 P1.3 billion budget, walang nagbabawal na e refile ng mga allies niya sa Minority Bloc sa Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) ang original 2023 proposed budget. Ito ay puwede nilang gawin kahit hanggang matapos ang taon na ito.

Ang problema: Ipapasa kaya ng Majority Bloc ng opposition solons sa SP ang refiled annual appropriation budget?

THE BELEGUERED Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (left photo) whose governance is dominated by the oppostion lawmakers headed by Councilors Red-Erfe Mejia and Celia Lim. Lim is the matriarch of the political family's Lim whose late husband Benjie and son Brian have been mayor of the coastal city, political nemesis and business rival of Mayor Fernandez.

Kamakailan tinanong ng reporter si Mayor Belen kung e oblige siya ng pitong dominanting opposition members, dubbed na Magic -7, na sa pamamagitan ng quid pro quo (sa mga empleyado ni Malabanan Septic Tank na nagbabasa nitong Tagalog column ko, ibig sabihin ay “something for something”) na ilatag sa kanila ang mga  pangalan at sueldo ng almost 1,900 job order employees (JOEs), barangay health workers at iba pa. Ito’y mariin niyang sinagot na HINDI.

Pag nagkataon iyan ang elephant in the room na naging burr in the blanket, the pebble in the shoe, or the albatross around the neck of Dagupenos ngayon at sa kinabukasan.

Itong elepante (idiom ng “controversial issue that is obvious”) ang dahilan na hindi na aprobahan ang original 2023's P1.3 billion dahil gusto ng oposisyon na ipakita muna ni Mayor ang mga pangalan ng mga JOEs and others dahil nagsususpetsa sila at mga supporters nila na may mga   tinatago si mayor na mga hao-shiao o fake o ghost workers sa mga JOEs and others.

Dahil diyan tinapyas at ginawang P864.9 million ang P1.3 billion ng mga Councilors na pinangungunahan ng pet peeve Dad ni Mayor na si Red Erfe-Mejia – ang Chairman ng Committee of Finance at Budget and Appropriations.

Ang sabi ng mga apologists at supporters ni Mayor Belen napaka-walanghiya naman nitong mga majority Councilors, walang nakasaad sa Local Government Code, sa manual ng Department of Budget and Management at kahit pa sa dyaryong pinambabalot ng mga tindera ng tinapa sa Malimgas Market na kailangan na ipakita ang mga pangalan ng mga job order workers.

Ito ang tugon ko where I would quote my retort to my friendly exchanges recently with one of the intellectual and illustrious sons of the Bangus City sa Facebook.

“Not every requirement needed by the Sanggunian Panlungsod should be provided by the statute because it goes against the brevity of the law. But the Local Government Code - the Bible of the LGU like Dagupan City - backed up the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP). It states on Section 455 paragraph IV: ... The City Mayor...provide such information and data needed or requested by said sanggunian in the performance of its legislative functions".

Mayor Belen did not provide the names of the J.Os thus her budget was slashed by the solons. If it is illegal the Mayor had questioned that in court and the court had issued an injunction or mandamus against the lawmakers. But she did not because she knows the law is on the side of the SP,” sinabi ko kay Professor Nick Melecio.

Dahil hindi naman na aksiyunan ng mga Solons ang veto ni Mayor, puwersado siyang gamitin ang watered down na 2022 P1.380 billion reenacted budget dahil naabutan na siya ng March 31 –prescriptive period as mandated by the Local Government Code.

Kahit na sinabi lately ng regional office ng DBM na inoperative ang P864.9 dahil P16 million ang nakaligtaang ilagay ng mga dominant Dads na mga estimate na projects galing sa national tax allotment (NTA), ang precursor ng internal revenue allotment (IRA) galing sa Imperial Manila Government, ito ay huli na dahil – to risk being redundant - naabutan sila ng katapusan ng buwan ng Marso.

“If the Sanggunian still fails to enact such ordinance after ninety (90) days from the beginning of the fiscal year, the ordinance authorizing the appropriations of the preceding year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the ordinance authorizing the proposed appropriations is passed by the Sanggunian concerned,” iyan ang sabi ng Section 323 ng Republic Act 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991) para di niyo sabihin na nagtatahi ako dito ng mga pinagku-quote ko dito anak na lasi kayo, sabi nila sa Pangalatok, este, sa Pangasinense hehehe!

 

***

Kahit sabihin natin ang 2022 budget ay P1.380 billion at mas malaki sa proposed 2023 P1.3 billion at P864.9 slashed 2023 appropriation, hindi lahat ito ay magagamit ng Fernandez Administration.

Mga bawal pag tumatakbo ang isang LGU sa reenacted budget:

No ordinance authorizing supplemental appropriations shall be passed in place of the annual appropriations.

·         There will be no creation of positions, no filling of positions, no new programs, projects and no activities for the Fernandez Administration (Nagtataka ako dito. Dalawang beses na itong ni file ng mga minority councilors kahit na pinagbabawal ito ng batas dahil kailangan maipasa muna ang 2023 budget).

·         The increase in the internal revenue allotment (IRA) allocation for this year 2023 cannot be utilized since the same is not covered by an appropriation ordinance.

·         Non-recurring activities (national aids, proceeds from loans, sale of assets, prior year adjustments and others) cannot be undertaken NO MATTER HOW VITAL THEY MAY BE (emphasis mine).

·         The twenty-percent (20%) Development or Infrastructure Fund – for government buildings, roads, others -  is not included. If half of the P1.380 is P690 million and was from the internal revenue allotment (they called it now as national tax allotment (NTA)) where the 20% of the Development Fund is computed, then the city loses P138 million this year for infras.

·            In the implementation of such reenacted ordinance, the local treasurer shall exclude from the estimates of income last year those realized from nonrecurring sources like national aids, proceeds from loans, sale of assets, prior year adjustments and other analogous sources of income.

 Sa mga nagbabasa kung tayo ay “going to the dogs’ in Dagupond (kasi laging nalulunod sa baha) sino ang salarin, este, ang may kasalan dito sa pagsalaula sa mahal nating Bangus City?

Is it the immovable Mayor Belen F. or the unstoppable Magic -7?

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

It’s the U.S not the Colombians that destroyed Escobar

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

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I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.