Fly the fraudulent skies

To compound the aviation industry’s worries, there is a European mafia making billions out of the sale of bogus aviation spare parts to unsuspecting air operators. Commercial and military planes have been affected, but aviation authorities have been downplaying this development. In fact the US National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) has taken crashes caused by faulty fake parts out of its crash investigation categories. Fortunately, Enzo Fregenezo of Pan Aviation Corp. has been indicted in Italy after selling fake Airbus parts in a scam to sell decommissioned Alitalia jetliners in the US. One thousand planes are reportedly flying with unauthorized parts. The mafia managed to pass off fake parts to a major European airline that ended up in the RP inventories of its local aviation maintenance subsidiary. Worse, it was discovered that the US presidential aircraft’s fire extinguishing system was fitted with fake parts. The culprit got sentenced for 30 years. Fly the fraudulent skies!

Sy you for lunch

Our eye-spy spotted almost the entire Henry Sy family at the luncheon tendered by the Asia Society for Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Henry, Big Boy, and Tessie Sy-Coson were there, and for good reason. Our ear-spies heard that the Sy family is planning to set up malls in Ozland in the coming year. It’s a big move. Henry Sy has gone to Australia a couple of times and he liked what he saw. By the way, a faux pas almost occurred during the lunch when the organizers seated Gretchen Cojuangco in the same table as Andres Soriano III. Fortunately, Asia Society president Doris Ho averted it by correcting the mistake shortly before lunch started.

Aussie anxieties

Australia is interesting. Do you know that 600,000 Australians (three percent of the population) are Islamic or of Middle Eastern descent? From 2000 - 2001, Al Qaeda operatives supported by Australian sleeper agents were identifying strategic infrastructure targets and Israeli targets in Ozland. To respond to this, the government has initiated a "Be Alert, Don’t be Alarmed" terrorism awareness program so citizens can identify sleeper and support agents to terrorists. First wave terrorists enter as immigrants and serve as sleepers to support the Second Wave. Second Wave terrorists come into the country to plan attacks. Third Wave terrorists execute the attack. With recent discoveries on training links between MILF and the JI, recent Australian visitor – Ambassador for Counterterrorism Nick Warner – has been reaching out to regional neighbors to coordinate on counterterrorism measures. The recent PNP fiasco has understandably raised their anxiety levels.

Unsound dipsomatic advice

Our ear-spies told us that the now infamous presidential adviser who pretended to know once again how to iron out obstacles that have risen from the wake of the Al-Ghozi great escape. As always, the "Great Pretender" recommended sending a diplomatic note of protest to the US on the possible cancellation of President Bush’s visit this October. That is the latest example of stupid, unsound advice given to the President by this adviser who pretends to know how to handle sensitive diplomatic situations. He is so inept that he dropped the ball on the Flor Contemplacion case with the immortal line: "Why so much fuss? She’s just a maid." He sounds more like a dipsomaniac than a diplomat.

Filipino terror humor

Despite the great escape last week, Filipino humor continues to flourish. After receiving news of the great escape from Camp Crame, a wit remarked, "Easy come, easy Ghozi." Not to be outdone, a political watcher speculated, "There Ghozi GMA’s plans for 2004." If another corruption fiasco or terrorist bomb explodes, we can expect the security establishment to quip, "There he Ghozi again." Filipino humor never ceases to amaze foreigners, especially, the Americans, who have become so intense over the recent escape by the Jemaah Islamiyah master terrorist.

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