Pork barrel magic

The 212-46 vote to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Navarro Gutierrez is definitely a victory for President Aquino, Speaker Sonny Belmonte and the pork barrel system. A top House leader told us that while Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya denied the text threatening Congressmen who vote no, absent or abstain with zero pork barrel release, many Congressmen believed the text came from Malacañang and could not risk losing their PDAP or pork barrel allocation of P70 million. While they lost the vote, 46 congressmen showed that they cannot be bought by an offer of pork barrel.

With the big pro impeachment vote, there’s no excuse now why P-Noy cannot push approval of the Reproductive Health bill in the House.

Yes, it was a vote of confidence in President Aquino. The bigger challenge now is the Senate, traditionally independent as pork barrel is not that crucial for a senator’s reelection.

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SIDELIGHTS. . . Cong. Niel Tupas Jr. and Cong. Rudy Fariñas did a good job of sponsoring the impeachment resolution. As usual, Cong. Edcel Lagman was brilliant in his interpellation. Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella also did an excellent job of keeping things under control.

The original count was 210 Yes, 47 No and 4 abstentions. The final count was 212-46-4. The reduction of the No vote was due to San Juan Cong. J. V. Ejercito changing his vote from No to Yes. The other additional Yes vote was that of Speaker Sonny Belmonte to make the final tally 212 Yes votes.

Under the leadership of Rep. Henry Cojuangco (Tarlac, Ist dist.) and Deputy Speaker Noli Fuentebella, the NPC bloc voted solidly for Yes thus, accounting for the big increase from an original estimate of 150 Yes votes to over 200. Isabela Cong. Gigi Aggabao who voted No in the Committee and Batangas Cong. Mark Mendoza went along with the NPC leadership and voted Yes.

The 31-member National Unity Party headed by Rep. Rodolfo Antonino was split. Navotas Cong. Toby Tiangco (PMP) was a surprise No vote because he sincerely believed the evidence was weak. Makati Rep. Abigail Binay (PDP-Laban) voted Yes. Absentee Negros Occidental Congressman Jules Ledesma made a surprise appearance and voted yes. Cong. Manny Pacquiao voted No on Twitter but, of course, his vote was not counted.

Deputy Speakers Pablo Garcia (Cebu) and Jesus Crispin Remulla (Cavite) voted No. Going against the House leadership, they should now give up their posts.

Representatives Gina de Venecia (Pangasinan) and Imelda Q. Dimaporo (Lanao del Norte) delivered good explanations of their votes.

Many Metro Manila Congressmen who voted yes will have difficult getting INC support in 2013. QC Congressman Winnie Castelo in whose district the INC central offices are entered St. Luke’s Hospital and was absent.

The Articles of Impeachment were filed at the Senate yesterday afternoon by Justice Committee Chairman Niel Tupas Jr.

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ANOTHER PROMISE. . . After years of promises by previous administrations, DILG Sec. Jessie Robredo is promising that all municipalities will have potable water by 2013. That’s doable as far as poblacions are concerned. The problem is with remote barangays especially mountain and island barangays. There should be a comprehensive program to build spring development and water impounding systems for these barangays.

Congressmen should give priority to building deep wells from their pork barrel.

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VERY SERIOUS. . . The US State Department’s 2011 Narcotics Control Strategy Report has named the Philippines as a global center for laundering of money coming from international narcotics trafficking.

The report gave the following specifics:

“Principal sources of criminal proceeds, it said, are human and drug trafficking, official corruption, and investment scams.

“The Philippines’ geographic position makes it attractive to human and narcotics traffickers; and relatively open sea borders complicate enforcement of currency controls,” the State Department said.

The Philippines likewise continues to experience an increase in foreign organized criminal activity from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Insurgency groups operating in the Philippines, it said, partially fund their activities through local crime and the trafficking of narcotics and arms, and engage in money laundering through ties to organized crime. Smuggling, including bulk cash smuggling, also continues to be a problem.

This is a very serious indictment of the PNP, the AFP, the DOF, the Bureau of Customs, the AMLC, and of course, Malacañang for not doing anything about this situation.

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TIDBITS. . . At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment and Climate Change, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said Metro Manila can be hit by an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. Tear down all condemned buildings now.  

According to NDRRMC, Metro Manila has a daytime population of 30 million. In case of a big earthquake disrupting the supply chain, there will be a food shortage in many isolated areas after two or three days. Most markets and malls replenish their stocks on a daily basis.

Israel’s ex President Moshe Katsav, 65, is convicted of raping an employee and sexually harassing two members of his staff and sentenced to 7 years in jail and $32,000 in fines.    

Dr. Maria Paz Paredes, 57, was shot dead by motorcycle gunmen at the Maharlika Highway in Tiaong, Quezon. Her husband, Dr. Rodolfo Paredes, 57, medical director of the Candelaria Doctor’s Hospital suffered gunshot wounds on his chest and arm but survived.

Ex Vice Mayor Noriel Salazar, 49, was also shot dead by motorcycle riding gunmen after dropping off his wife at a local bank in Alitagtag, Batangas. He was a former labor union president of CocoChem Corporation in Bauan, Batangas.

Greetings to my dentists Dr. Lucila Bernardo and Dr. Regina S. Morales who are avid readers of our column. They are very, very good dentists.  

Tune in to our radio program “Mr. Expose” over DZRJ-AM 810 KHZ today at 5-6 p.m.