Abortionists

What? Snuff out the life of a new-born babe even before it can utter its first words? This was virtually the proposal of three senators – Blas F. Ople, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, and Ramon Magsaysay Jr. – when they suggested that the Senate end its probe into the charges of high crime lodges against their fellow senator Panfilo Lacson. Why they ever thought of such an unpopular, outrageous idea shows how far detached the senators are from the pulsebeat of the people.

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It is weird that two of the senators who proposed to abort the Senate inquiry never attended the first two hearings of l’affaire Lacson. While the hearings were going on, Jun Magsaysay was traipsing all over Basilan, in a futile effort to gather information on the alleged conspiracy between military men and the Abu Sayyaf. On the other hand, Ople must have been closeted in his room, trying to regain the intellectual supremacy he displayed in days of yore. As for Oreta, one would find it hard to fathom what runs in her mind.

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Many people heaved a sigh of relief when Jun Magsaysay backtracked and agreed to continue his defense committee’s participation in the Senate probe. He must have realized that he carries an illustrious name, and pursuing the outlandish proposal to abort would have surely sullied that name.

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When they concocted the idea to snuff out the life of the new-born babe, didn’t the proponents realize that the first Senate hearing did not tackle at all the main issue at hand? Instead, the Senate hearing went berserk and wayward, and delved on peripheral, inconsequential issues. And were the proponents not told that it was only during the August 23 second hearing that the proceedings got back on track?

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The proposal to abort raises suspicions that the closed door executive session must have produced damaging information that some senators would not want to be divulged, or would not want to pursue. Or probably, the emergence of a new witness, Indian national Danny Devnani, might bring out skeletons in the closet that would badly damage the senator’s political allies, patrons and benefactors.

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Apparently, some senators do not know how to feel and read the public mood. If they did, they would not come out with such preposterous (or "propesterous" as uttered by Sen. Robert Jaworski) ideas like putting an end to a Senate probe that has not yet even really begun. By their outrageous proposal, they are courting public ire and bringing the Senate further down into disrepute, ridicule and public contempt.

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From the way some senators are acting and conducting themselves, people are beginning to harbor thoughts that it could be high time to abolish the Senate and turn Congress into a unicameral body. Right now, there is even a growing perception that the House of Representatives is acting in a more dignified, more responsible, and more statesmanlike manner than the Senate. Watch the next public opinion surveys of the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia – and you might be jolted by the popularity rating of the Senate.

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Just when everybody thought the sale of Cosmos Bottling Corp. to San Miguel Corp. was a done deal, a legal hitch has surfaced. Last Aug. 24, 2001, Executive Judge Monina A. Zenarosa of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) which effectively held in abeyance the well-publicized multibillion transaction. Zenarosa said that unless restrained, the sale "would work injustice to the plaintiffs during the pendency of the case and would tend to render any judgment nugatory.

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There are ten plaintiffs in the complaint (Civil Case No. 001-44918), led by Jaz Cola Phils., and there are 11 defendants, led by Cosmos Bottling Corp. And the complaint alleges that on November 8, 1996, the Jaz Cola Group signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Cosmos for the sale of 10 Visayas-based corporations under Jaz Cola in the amount of P1.168 billion.

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According to Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr., who represents the plaintiffs, the provisions in the MOA were not complied with by Cosmos, among which was the failure of Cosmos pay Jaz Cola the "full and total consideration" stated in the MOA, amounting to P400 million. Because of this breach of contract, Jaz Cola asked the RTC to rescind the MOA.

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Jaz Cola cited other breaches of the MOA: Failure of Cosmos to pay plaintiffs other obligations, like held-back purchase price, leasing payments, reimbursable truck leases, advertising and insurance payments, advance amortization for distributor trucks, among others. Jaz Cola also stated that Cosmos resorted to money laundering involving the use of Fauna Developments Limited, a foreign corporation and a foreign tax haven in the British Virgin Islands. "We were made an unwitting tool by the defendants in an apparent grand scheme to evade the payment of proper tax due the government by whatever means necessary, whether lawful or not," Syjuco said.

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If the MOA between Jaz Cola and Cosmos is rescinded, a big part of the assets of Cosmos cannot be sold to San Miguel Corp. This would, in effect, make the contract of sale of Cosmos to SMC defective. For under the Cosmos-SMC contract, the "entire assets" of Cosmos, including the properties that are the subject of Jaz Cola’s complaint, are supposed to be turned over to the buyer (SMC). Indeed, the case now pending in the Quezon City RTC is worth watching.

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PULSEBEAT: The presentation ceremonies of the 2001 Ramon Magsaysay Awards will be held on Friday, 31, August 2001, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as guest of honor. For the first time in many years, not one Filipino was chosen as an awardee… It is strange that the rutted portions of Ortigas Avenue Extension in Pasig City, one of the busiest roads in Metro Manila, have not been repaired by the Department of Public Works and Highways. No money? Or plain negligence?… Have you noticed that campaign posters used in the last May 2001 elections have not been removed or scrapped off from where they were posted? Probably some LGUs do not have cleanliness as part of their government agenda… Ruperto S. Sangalang, president of Cavite State University, wishes to offer a teaching position to Andres Torres, the engineer who is about to finish a masteral degree at the University of Tokyo. Sangalang may be contact at tel. Nos. (046) 415-0010 (046) 415-0011.

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Thoughts for Today:

Life consists of tough decisions:
to go on or give up,
to hold on or let go,
to stay or to leave.
What’s comforting is that God
is with us wherever we go.

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God doesn’t judge your prayer
by its length nor by its volumes.
But He does look at the heart
behind the words.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>