It's time to file the cases vs. coup plotters!

For tonight's topic on our talkshow Straight from the Sky, we bring you no less than Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, commanding general of the Central Command (Centcom) whose jurisdiction stretches as far as three Regions, Region 6, 7 & 8, including the Island of Masbate which belongs to Region 5. This is a mighty huge responsibility for Gen. Bagasin who is due to retire in the next few months. So please watch this show with Gen. Bagasin on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00 p.m. as he gives us an assessment of the peace and order situation under his command before he retires from active service.

* * *

"It's a done deal!"... That's what Mr. Erramon I. Aboitiz, Director and Executive Vice-President/Chief Operating Officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) told me last Saturday afternoon when I asked him if the deal where Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) would acquire the International Exchange Bank (iBank) would push through. All that's needed is due diligence and 30 days to sign the final agreement on this deal. True to form, the Aboitiz-owned Union Bank will also make a tender offer to the rest of the shareholders of iBank for the same terms, which is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirement. This is something I wrote about when the Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd that bought or acquired majority ownership of Union Cement Corp. refused to follow SEC rules and even went to court just to con the minority shareholders of Union Cement.

Today, Union Bank is ranked as the country's 12th largest bank; it is 4th in net income, 9th in resources, the 11th in deposits and also 11th largest bank in terms of loans. Union Bank has 111 branches nationwide and with their acquisition of iBank, I'm sure it would almost double the number of their branches. This acquisition means UBP becomes the 10th largest bank in the Philippines. What is the most

* * *

The big news last Saturday was that Leandro Aragoncillo, the former US Marine who once worked inside the White House and as an intelligence analyst of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has now pleaded guilty to passing classified information to the Filipino opposition as part of the attempt to overthrow Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA).

Right now... we only have alleged names of who was at the receiving end of this classified information. But with our selective justice system in this country... I have my doubts that anyone of them could ever be indicted for trying to overthrow our government. So far, only former Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada has openly admitted to have gotten the documents passed by Aragoncillo. He says that others like Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and former Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano also got those same documents. Of course, he is already saying that he is innocent of any possible charges.

Well now is the time for the Arroyo Administration to go on the legal offensive. We're no longer talking here about a perceived or imagined plan to hold a coup against Pres. Arroyo... this time its for real and it had to take the confession of a Fil-Am who was caught red-handed to tell us the whole truth about these coup plots. The problem now lies with our justice system. Right now, I'm only hearing our legal authorities saying that they could possibly indict the persons on the receiving end of the Aragoncillo documents. What are they waiting for? File the damn cases against anyone no matter how high and let the courts decide whether they are innocent or not?

* * *

Our good friend, Dr. Jose Dacudao, the only neurosurgeon in Butuan City and the National President of Save Our Languages through Federalism (Solfed) e-mailed me that Solfed Butuan youth member 19-year old Jemarie Varron was kidnapped, gang-raped and murdered in the early hours of May 2, 2006. She just turned 19 on April 27, 2006. From this report, it seems that Jem went with a female friend to a hotel in Butuan's main street. When she found three men were waiting for her in the room, she ran away and they chased her and dragged her to a waiting van. Early morning of the next day, her body was found in a Bgy Doongan near the City Hall in a field.

Jemarie sustained around 17 stab wounds in her body and the autopsy reports showed that she was raped. Initial reports seem to indicate that Jem was possibly being sold to a Cebu-based Chinese operated prostitution ring. This is why we would like to alert the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) because the

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com