Mitra in distress

The name Mitra is associated with Palawan. In fact it was the late Speaker Ramon Mitra who put Palawan on the map, converting its image as a land sheltering lepers in Culion and convicts in Iwahig, into a progressive, first class province and tourist destination. A two-term congressman, the Speaker was a combination of fierceness and amiableness — traits he applied depending on who he was contending with. He almost became president of the Republic. He was born and buried in the land.

Here now comes a son of his — Abraham Kahlil Mitra — who was elected to Congress three times, who had sponsored bills, laws and resolutions that sought “to alleviate not only the problems in Palawan but in the entire Philippines.” Many of his bills were on agriculture and fisheries.

Since the law states that he could not run for Congress any more, he decided to run as Liberal Party candidate for governor, using Aborlan as the base for his gubernatorial campaign. The decision to establish his residence in Aborlan was due to the fact that Puerto Princesa, where he had been residing, had been classified by executive order as a “highly urbanized city”; in effect its residents can no longer vote in the gubernatorial election. Mitra moved to Aborlan in March 2008, and registered as a voter there in March last year — more than the one-year residency requirement for provincial candidates.

To his surprise, last month, the Comelec ruled that he was disqualified from the gubernatorial race. The Comelec decision, penned by Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, was based on the allegation of those persons who filed the disqualification case against Mitra that the latter had not established his domicile or residence in Aborlan, and was in fact always seen in Puerto Princesa.

Baham is obviously piqued by the charge of his lack of residency; Section 39 of the Local Government Code fixes a residence qualification “to exclude a stranger or newcomer, unacquainted with the conditions and needs of a community and not identified with the latter, from an elective office to serve that community.” How could he be a stranger or newcomer to a place whose conditions and needs he is fully acquainted with, he asks.

My colleague Belinda Cunanan is right in urging Comelec to reverse its ruling, in the interest of justice.

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“For forms of government let fools contest, whatever is best administered is best. For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; He can’t be wrong whose life is in the right. In faith and hope the world will disagree, but all mankind’s concern is charity. And all must be false that thwart this one great end. And all of God, that bless mankind or mend.” This excerpt from Alexander Pope’s Essays on Man came to mind as I read the news about prominent businessman Le Peng Wee’s recent conviction.

The former Estrada administration presidential adviser for Mindanao economic affairs was found guilty on two counts of smuggling and has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. In a 58-page decision, Judge Gregorio de la Peña III of the Zamboanga City RTC found Le Peng Wee guilty of clandestinely importing 39 drums of toluene, methylene chloride and forane which are prohibited chemicals most often used in processing methamphetamine or shabu.

I remembered Pope’s essay because this case is a testament to the spirit of the text that what is right, just and godly will eventually prevail. You see, ever since Bureau of Customs (BOC) X-ray Division Chief Lourdes Mangaoang (back then she was a Customs District Collector in Zamboanga) filed the smuggling case against Le and his accomplices in the year 2000, she had to endure a decade of roadblocks and hurdles before Goliath finally fell. Bear in mind that at the time the illegal shipment was seized, Le was a member of former President Estrada’s cabinet. With his official position, it can be presumed that he had the influence and might to lean on those who had something to do with the case.

When the contraband chemicals arrived from Malaysia on board the MV Lady Mary Joy 2 on 30 June 2000, the named consignee of the shipment was Le Peng Wee. Curiously however, Le Peng Wee was cleared of any liability. Zamboanga City Prosecutor Manuel Tatel dismissed the case against Le for “lack of evidence and no smuggling to speak of.” The Malaysians involved fled the country, and only the vessel master Winfred Caoile was found guilty of the criminal complaint filed by the BOC.

Regardless of the threats on her life and person, lawyer Mangaoang, armed with proof that the chemical shipment in question had no clearance from the Environmental Management Bureau, persisted in prosecuting Le Peng Wee. She also managed to secure the testimony of the terminally ill Federico Rodriguez (former MV Lady Mary Joy 2 jepe de viaje) that Le was undoubtedly the owner of the seized 39 chemical drums.

Granted justice may be like a train that is nearly always late, as Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko once put it, those who are in the right will ultimately be rewarded.

The BOC whose duties are to prevent and suppress smuggling and to supervise and control the entrance and clearance of vessels and aircraft into Philippine borders, has warned smugglers that they too will suffer Le Peng Wee’s fate. He was considered a big fish but his conviction should prove that every so often, the BOC can manage to come up with a prized catch.

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On another front, increasing food productivity to address the unavailability or insufficiency of food to eat is one of the components of the Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program (AHMP), the banner program of the Arroyo Administration.

The National Nutrition Council cites the efforts undertaken by the members of the Anti-Hunger Task Force to move towards eradication of hunger. One is the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program, which last year, benefited around 153,000 households. This began as Programang Gulayan, a communal vegetable garden concept.

Another is the coconut intercropping, with the coconut salt fertilization program incrasing coconut yield by at least 25 percent, reaching some 29,000 farmers. In 68,000 hectares.

The government’s livestock program has benefited at least 13,400 families, its fishery program 27,000 persons. Irrigation facilities serving 52,000 hectares were restored and rehabilitated, benefiting 16,000 farmers.

The Department of Agriculture is committed to improve further the supply of food in anticipation of the negative effects of the El Nino phenomenon. These include expanding tilapia fingerling dispersal, full implementation of the catch-up plan for the Gulayan Para sa Masa, and promoting the planting of vegetables that thrive in El Nino environment, increasing goat production, expanding irrigation coverage, rehabilitation of small water impounding projects and diversion dams, improving and innovating the Barangay Bagsakan outlets, and fast-tracking the construction of farm-to-market roads.

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