Paper chase

Somehow, one gets the sinking feeling that nobody really knows how to pry those millions of dollars of allegedly ill-gotten wealth from the clutches of the Marcoses. Not  legal luminaries Jovito Salonga or Frank Chavez. And especially not the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

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Salonga and Chavez had had their chance to crack the mystery of the Marcos horde – and so did a lot of others before and after them. All failed miserably. The current Frank-and-Jovy slapstick in the media over the ill-gotten wealth recovery effort can only be the child of mutual befuddlement about the whole thing.

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Of course, the PCGG is still pursuing the forlorn chase. But PCGG has had little success with the really big job of getting back the massive loot stashed by the late dictator in banks overseas. True, PCGG has made a few hits at sequestered properties, but those were the easier targets.

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Indeed, some of those assets were surrendered without a court battle. No sweat. The secrets of the huge loot, on the other hand, remain as puzzling and impregnable to PCGG as the deep mysteries of the Swiss banking system.

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As PCGG struggled grimly and unsuccessfully to recover the ill-gotten wealth over the years, it was, at the same time, losing ground in public esteem and confidence. Since the first commission cobbled together by the revolutionary government of Cory Aquino in the heady aftermath of Edsa I, the PCGG has had several turnovers. But then, those turnovers involved mostly only personnel, not stolen wealth.

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So, where will the forlorn hunters of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth take us from here? What can Filipinos expect from the recovery effort? With the likes of Jovy Salonga and Frank Chavez sparring in the media and Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena  acting up in his own inimitable fashion, where do we really go from here? That’s the overwhelming question.

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After 15 years of fruitless chase after the Marcos loot, the only conclusion that can be reasonably arrives at is that the Filipino, all 80 million on them, and a smattering of foreign bounty hunters, have been outsmarted and had by the wily dictator. From his tormented seat somewhere maybe amidst roaring flames, Macoy must be having a ball watching the riotous PCGG vaudeville.

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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is being criticized for her plan to hire Ex-Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani as Adviser on Peace and Order. The criticism is unfair because there are precedents for similar invitations to become advisers to the Philippine government. According to former Ambassador Rodolfo A. Arizala, Philippine Commonwealth Pres Manuel L. Quezon in 1935 hired Gen. Douglas MacArthur as "Military Adviser" and gave him the rank of "Field Marshal". President MLQ also autho-rized compensation to General MacArthur in the amount of P36,000 (US $18,000)  per annum, a yearly personal allowance of P30,000 (US$15,000), and accommodations in a fully air-conditioned seven-room suite atop the Manila Hotel (now called the "MacArthur Penthouse").

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Arizala’s research work also showed that when General MacArthur left the Philippines, after organizing the Philippine Army and Defenses of the Philippines, President MLQ gifted him with US $500,000, a hefty amount in those days. The Philippine Army organized and trained by MacArthur saw action in Bataan and Corregidor during WW II. And most of them, after  Bataan and Corregidor surrendered, organized themselves or joined  guerrilla movements against the Japanese until the return of the US forces and allies to the Philippines.

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"Nobody in those days told  or bitterly criticized President MLQ that by hiring General MacArthur, it would be an "insult" to Filipino military officials or would demoralize them," Arizala said.

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Nelson D. Rio, a World War II veteran, wrote to express disgust over the anti-US protest actions in connection with the American trooper’s presence in Mindanao and other parts of the country. He said the protesters "do not even have an idea of what it is to live under a situation of oppressive rule and anarchy as was experienced by the older generation under the Japanese Imperial forces." He explained such oppression was stamped out because of the help of the American forces who liberated us.

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"Was there any protest for their presence during that time? The parents of these people who are demonstrating now welcomed them both with tears and great joy," Rio said. Now, he challenges the protesters to live in Basilan, Jolo or in Zamboanga under the present atmosphere of terrorism.

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Bobby Q. Labalan, station manager of DZRS in Sorsogon, transmitted to me the general complaints aired by the local transport sector in Sorsogon, and he is asking me to prod the authorities concerned to do something about these. The complaints focus on the adjustment of oil prices that are being arbitrarily done by the local petroleum dealers in Sorsogon.

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As Labalan recounted it, whenever oil companies declare an increase in their prices, local gas dealers lose no time in effecting the increase. In fact, there are times that they make the price hike way ahead of the scheduled date set by their mother companies. But then, Labalan continued, when there are rollbacks in prices, local dealers here effect the price changes only after three days to one week.

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The local gas dealers in Sorsogon are claiming that the oil deregulation policy authorizes them to do anything they wish with oil prices. "This is an outrageous reasoning, and the government authorities concerned should look into the matter and do what should be done to protect the general public from this highway robbery," said Labalan.

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Thoughts For Today:

Happiness always looks small
if you hold it in your hands.
But when you learn to share it,
you will realize how big and precious it is.

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When we sigh about our problems,
they grow double.
But when we laugh about them,
they become bubbles.

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