Severe test for Daang Matuwid

Somebody in Facebook puts it so well: “may Puno na sagabal sa Daang Matuwid.” That captures the public sentiment on the latest imbroglio of P-Noy’s bosom buddy Rico Puno, the man who claims only he can calm P-Noy down.

Unfortunately, this Puno caper didn’t even give P-Noy time to savor his impressive 14-point jump in his satisfaction rating. Public mourning of the death of Jesse Robredo must have something to do with this jump as the survey was taken at about that time.

That makes the current Puno caper even more dangerous for P-Noy. The public is not going to allow anyone, not even P-Noy to sacrifice Robredo’s legacy for any reason.

The public is not buying P-Noy’s “innocent until proven guilty” stance on Puno. P-Noy didn’t use that rule on Prisco Nilo of PAG-ASA. It hurts P-Noy to be seen as extra protective of his bosom friend.

Sure, the public is appreciative that P-Noy himself caught the anomalous purchase of those long rifles and ordered it stopped and investigated. But when he tried to split hair by saying the transaction is being investigated but not Puno, P-Noy’s credibility starts to fray.

It doesn’t help that P-Noy seems incoherent when interviewed from Vladivostok on the issue. He said he ordered Puno to secure documents of Robredo but he didn’t say to go to Robredo’s condo. The police officer with Puno says the order includes Robredo’s place.

Worse, that is not supposed to be the right chronology. Rappler reports that previous statements by De Lima, other Cabinet officials, and members of the Robredo family indicate that the request to secure Robredo’s documents had come from Robredo’s wife, Leni, and was made precisely because of Puno’s attempted entry into their unit in Quezon City on Sunday, Aug. 19.

There has been no mention of a request made on the night of the crash, Aug. 18. I am told that those with P-Noy know that P-Noy was fuming when he found out about Puno’s attempts.

So why did P-Noy say he gave the order to Puno if there are enough people who know that’s not so? Besides, it doesn’t make sense for P-Noy to give such an order. Puno was head of the committee responsible for the gun deal P-Noy himself found anomalous. The documents to be secured are supposed to include a report of that arms deal. P-Noy would be insane to order the fox to secure the hen house.

The document given by sources to ABS-CBN News shows Puno himself traveled to Israel upon the invitation of weapons manufacturer Israel Military Industries. The DILG report, according to ABS-CBN, says Puno’s group left for Israel on May 10, the same date of the second pre-bid conference for the purchase of short firearms. It cites a possible conflict of interest, since Puno and another member, a Ramiro Lopez III, were both members of the bids and awards committee.

The report also says specifications of the assault rifles seem to have been amended to favor a particular bidder… P-Noy himself was wondering during his interview at Vladivostok why only one bidder was left. Curiously, Puno told a House committee that “We are asking for exemption from the procurement law (which requires public bidding) so we can do a negotiated contract (for the rifles).” He didn’t say why and the congressmen didn’t ask.

Someone seems to have gotten his fingers caught in this sticky cookie jar. I am told that P-Noy, in fact, felt personally betrayed by what Puno had done in connection with that deal.

P-Noy told reporters in Vladivostok that he immediately ordered a suspension of the bidding when he found out about the outrageous prices but “somehow, some portion reached the post-evaluation process. Why were tests made when there was a stop order? All of those involved have been subject to an investigation and the uniformed personnel were placed on floating status,” he said.

That brings up a serious question: Why were lower ranking officers placed on floating status while Puno, the chair of the bids and awards committee is not even being investigated and will even be offered another job?

If social media is an indication of public sentiment on this issue, P-Noy must be extra careful he doesn’t betray Robredo’s memory and sacrifice. He cannot do a Luneta verdict again and exonerate his buddy and punish the rest.

People are wondering why Puno has such a strong hold on P-Noy. It doesn’t seem normal. Does Puno really know some deep dark damaging secret about him?

I have heard loose talk about jueteng and how Puno has the potential of being P-Noy’s Chavit. We all know how Chavit precipitated Erap’s fall. Sen. Miriam Santiago said she will ask Puno pointblank “Sinong kahati mo diyan sa jueteng?” when her probe starts on Friday.

Remember that Miriam’s husband is from Tarlac and used to be a DILG usec himself. If anyone knows about jueteng in Tarlac, Jun Santiago does. Miriam will likely ask questions the answers to which she already knows.

I still want to believe P-Noy is clean but he must realize Puno is not worth his presidency. And if Puno is a true friend, he should have spared P-Noy more anguish by resigning earlier than he did.  

Watch that favorable rating fall sharply if people feel P-Noy is choosing his buddy over the country and the public interest.

 MRT 7

John Forbes of the American Chamber wrote me about MRT 7:

“Boo, “one project you have not covered is MRT-7. DOTC told us that it approved it and the approval was with DOF.

“DOF told us there are unresolved issues with the proponent.

“Would be good to know more about the issues and whether they are being resolved.

“MRT-7 will give us four light rail lines, which I believe will put us ahead of Bangkok and keep us ahead of Jakarta.”

Actually, even before I received John’s e-mail, I was wondering myself and I texted Ramon Ang asking about the status of his project. RSA texted back that MRT 7 is still waiting for approval. So I asked where it is, DOTC or DOF. RSA said, DOF.

I texted back to ask if he was seeking sovereign guarantee for his project? He said, no the project is awaiting performance undertaking.

I assume that has to do with toll rate making. RSA’s financiers most likely want a guarantee from government that it will follow its contractual obligations on rate making. I would too… politics can delay called for increases or set rates below what makes business sense.

But how come when I asked Sec. Purisima about MRT 7 via DM on Facebook, he responded that it is with DOTC for their legal review. So is it? DOTC or DOF?

Something isn’t right here. They are delaying a decision for some reason. A Yes or No is all it takes. Even a No should be ok so the proponent can either go back and redesign the proposal or abandon it and let other takers try.

But government has held this BOT proposal on suspended animation for too long already. That’s not encouraging for other prospective proponents in the PPP projects lined up.

 LRT 1

I also got a complaint about how DOTC suddenly moved the deadline for the submission of qualification documents for the LRT 1 extension to Cavite to Sept. 28 instead of the Aug. 22 original schedule. The complainant asked, “Why is the government changing the rules midstream?”

Why indeed? Serious investors who are banking on the government’s so-called transparency and credibility will be disappointed. Worse, amendments were made to the terms of reference lowering the qualification requirements for the partner bringing the light rail operations experience.

The new terms of reference makes it possible to have a partner who has had experience handling 30 million riders a year, down from the original 50 million. The 50 million riders a year is equivalent to 100,000 riders per day. The 30 million riders bring down the daily riders to only 80,000.

I am told that this means that the operator partner must only be capable of catering to 18 percent of the current volume of LRT riders. That is potentially just 10 percent of the future riders, a gross understatement of requirements.

Given past experience with government biddings, there are suspicions that the terms of reference were amended to accommodate favored bidders not qualified under the original rules. That doesn’t sound like Daang Matuwid. And this is happening still under the watch of the virginal Mar Roxas at DOTC.

Road

Here is a one-liner I picked up from the net that aptly describes the state of the administration today… Daang Matuwid and all.

When you don’t know where you’re going... Every road will take you there.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco