A glimpse of Poe’s future cronies?

It wasn’t so much the defensive tactics two foreigners were teaching to bodyguards that attracted police attention, but the potential for offense. So the Davao PNP, acting on a tip, went in to investigate.

Agents tailed American Michael Timothy Murrell and British Colin Paul Smith. The two were soliciting clients for their newly-established Self Protection Inc., a security training and consulting firm. For modest sums from groups of 10 to 20, they were offering such courses as VIP protection, advanced handgun, security driving and hostage rescue.

Murrell and Smith not only were managers of SPI, but 40-percent owners, as the incorporation papers state. This enhanced their credentials as former army specialists, more so in running a special course on sniper tactics. They were also offering it at a time of red alerts for election violence.

Sniper ambush is one big risk a candidate has to face campaigning in the hinterlands. Well-trained bodyguards can be a deterrent. But in the world of paramilitary units, where defensive maneuvers also alerts smart trainees on offensive tactics, the course can be useful for would-be snipers. In this case, the target can be a rival of the bodyguard’s political boss.

After a month-long surveillance, police arrested Murrell and Smith last week in an entrapment operation, with one of the sleuths posing as a Davao pol about to pay P140,000 for his goons. The charge: violating the law that forbids foreign equity in security agencies. Although strangely registered with the SEC as SPI incorporators, the duo had no permit to operate from the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division.

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The STAR’s scoop on Wilfredo Espiritu’s ties to Fernando Poe Jr., through the latter’s ex-lover, is stunning not so much for its torrid details but its implications. The country may be getting a glimpse of who Poe’s business cronies will be if he becomes president.

As reported, Espiritu is a founder of the Concerned Entrepreneurs and Professions for Progress, composed of businessmen campaigning for Poe. He is also vice president of the Freedom, Progress and Justice (FPJ) Crusade, named after the candidate’s initials.

Espiritu is the spouse of actress Ana Marin, by whom Poe sired a son out of wedlock. He is now legal guardian of the 21-year-old offspring. Marin also has been linked to the political clan of Poe’s runningmate. Poe reportedly has five illegitimate daughters as well.

Espiritu, despite his lead role in the campaign, shuns the press. His CEPP, its website states, is "the leading voice and distinct business" group supporting Poe. Its mission: "to conceptualize, create and support actions, movements, plans and activities for the advancement of the economy." It is staking a claim on what its role would be in a Poe presidency.

For Joseph Estrada, Poe’s bosom pal, business cronies came mostly from his 415 Club, an exclusive group of gambling buddies. During his incumbency, his own chief of staff said, Estrada spent all-night drinking and gambling sessions, during which huge deals were planned and clinched. The beneficiaries of those deals were Estrada’s many mistresses, for whom he built many mansions.

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Has the Supreme Court no power to enforce its orders?

A lawyer of the Comelec’s flawed computer supplier says his client will not return the P1 billion already paid to it. More than that, he is suing for payment of the P200-million balance. This, in defiance of the SC order for the Solicitor General to retrieve the cash.

Claims its lawyer, Mega Pacific eSolutions Inc. delivered all 1,991 automated counting machines within deadline. The Comelec even tested the machines to be in good condition. It thus may not return the units, and MPEI not only should keep the installments but also be paid in full.

Yet the SC ruling was clear. Comelec’s bidding was flawed from the start. It tailored the rules for one supplier and shirked safeguards against fraud or glitches. The SC thus voided the contract.

To this, the lawyer replies not in court but in the press: that’s all the Comelec’s fault, not MPEI’s, for conducting the bidding. As far as the firm is concerned, he says, it fulfilled it’s end of the deal. This defense ignores two facts: that MPEI participated in a bidding that the SC found to be a rigged, and then entered into an unlawful contract with the Comelec.

By denigrating the ruling, the lawyer is in effect telling people to scorn the highest court of the land. Lesser mortals can go to jail for such contempt. What about those who studied the law, the better to flout it?

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How can one CD’s various artists induce frequent airplay in diverse realms like FM radio’s pop shows, AM’s talk format, and television’s rival music-video channels Myx and MTV?

The simple answer: relevance.

At a time when the country’s life is at stake – with Filipinos about to choose leaders who can make or break the next six years – they are turning to a message of hope. That message is in songs of self-empowerment for change in Pagbabago, a 14-cut compilation of works of the country’s best singers, bands and songwriters.

And what better way to further the cause than with a free concert featuring Pagbabago artists Jaya, Renz Verano and Radha, tonight at 7, at Eastwood City’s Central Plaza in Libis, Quezon City. Dubbed Konsiyerto ng Pagbabago, the show will be hosted by the popular Chico and Delamar, of Monster Radio’s Morning Rush.

"The Pagbabago album was created to push the message of positive change," says Trina Belamide, multi-awarded composer who took a year off work to put the artists together. "Reform and renewal in society must start with change in individuals."

Konsiyerto ng Pagbabago is a project of pagbabago@pilipinas, with support from Globe Telecoms and Monster Radio RX 93.1-FM. In the CD, aside from tonight’s performers, are Regine Velasquez, The CompanY, Aegis, Grace Nono, Da Pulis, Jolina Magdangal, South Border, Mystica, and APO.

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Catch Sapol ni Jarius Bondoc, Saturdays at 8 a.m., on DWIZ (882-AM).

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E-mail: [email protected]