Happy birthday President Erap

Today is the 74th birthday of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Last Sunday he started his annual practice of giving gift bags to five impoverished areas of Manila and Quezon City and visit the Damas orphanage in Paco.

Still in good health and very popular, President Erap continues to provide good comment on public affairs and is supportive of President Aquino, Vice President Binay and Senate President Enrile. He is also the principal adviser of sons Senator Jinggoy and Congressman J.V.

He now keeps himself busy by engaging in real estate development. On Sundays, dozens of friends visit him at his Polk residence.

Happy, happy birthday, Mr. President, and like your mom, may you live to be 105 years old.

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PLUNDER. . . Retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa has filed a plunder case against former AFP Chiefs of Staff Efren Abu, Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu, 12 other military officers, most of them still in the active service, a civilian auditor and a civilian accountant. The total amount involved is P2.5 billion.

This proves our point that the current DND/AFP leadership from Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, former Chief of Staff Ricardo David to incumbent COS Eduardo Oban have not seriously exerted effort to uncover corruption in the DND and AFP and kicking out the scalawags.

Sec. Gazmin even went thru the motions of creating an investigation committee which folded up without recommending any charges against any military personnel.

It had to take Col. Rabusa and his lawyer Noel Malaya to file the case.

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TOO MANY ACCIDENTS. . . Thirty-one people were injured when an overtaking bus jumped off an embankment into a ravine in Ternate, Cavite; 37 employees were injured when an SBMA contracted bus fell into a ravine in Dinalupihan, Bataan; 19 persons were injured when a bus met an accident in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. All these accidents happened in a span of 36 hours. So many bus accidents have been happening in different parts of the country.  

ABS-CBN teen actor AJ Perez died when an ABS-CBN van collided with a speeding PARTAS bus in Moncada, Tarlac.

Amalia Alcantara and her seven-year old son were killed by a speeding Genesis bus on Edsa in Pasay. A truck ran over and killed a pedestrian in Camarines Sur.

The usual cause is negligence of the driver, sometimes even drunk, or loss of brakes. It’s the job of LTO and PNP Highway Patrol Group to clamp down on erring drivers and bus owners. Too many people are dying due to bus accidents. In Metro Manila alone, 70,000 accidents happened in 2010 with more than 300 people killed.

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COMMENDABLE. . . Dr. Gilbert Yang, a noted dermatologist who graduated from UP, has been doing volunteer teaching at the La Salle Greenhills Adult Night High School for 26 years. Classes are held from 5:15 to 9 p.m. A token P275 is charged for a year. Also offered are non-formal education courses.

For information call 7212000 or 7234055 or log on to www.lsgh.edu.ph.  

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CARJACKERS GALORE. . The carjacking of Pilar Pilapil’s car once again raises the question as to the effectivity of the PNP’s anti carjacking campaign. NCRPO Director Nick Bartolome reported that carnapping/carjacking incidents in Metro Manila have increased by 15 percent to 236 the first three months, averaging three a day. They strike at all hours. COA Chairman Rey Villar’s car was carjacked at 7 a.m. and Pilar Pilapil’s at 4 p.m.

It is, of course, obvious that carnappers continue to do their criminal activity because they have gotten away with reselling the cars or dismantling them as spare parts. Somehow, the PNP and the LTO have not been able to devise a system to make it difficult for the carjackers to profit from their crime.

It is again relevant to ask why DILG, DOTC and DOJ have not been able to identify police or LTO officials who are protecting the carjackers.

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GUESS WHO? . . . Filipinos in Macau report that a Congressman lost $13 million (Hong Kong dollars) at a poker table at a 5-star Hotel VIP gaming room in that Chinese territory.

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TIDBITS. . . DFA Sec. Albert del Rosario has started to implement his policy of appointing career officials to Ambassadorial posts. He made an excellent choice in recommending career officer Ezzedin Tago as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and got his appointment signed by President Aquino.  

Vice President Jejomar Binay has yet to decide the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani issue.  He has decided to conduct a poll survey about it.

Jim Ayala, chairman of the Solar Energy Foundation told ANC that one out of four Filipinos still has no electricity. He emphasizes that solar energy is the answer to reach the remote islands and mountain barangays. The Foundation is sponsoring “Ride for Life” to raise funds to bring electricity to poor barangays.

Complaints are mounting about the delay in getting passports at DFA Manila. It takes as long as two months to get one. DFA has put up passport issuing offices in Clark, San Fernando, La Union, Cebu and Zamboanga City. Why not put up satellite passport offices in Quezon City, Taguig Global City and Sta. Rosa, Laguna?

Congratulations to Tess Herbosa on her appointment as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A UP Law cum laude graduate with a Masters degree from the University of Michigan, Herbosa is a senior partner of the ACCRA law office.

Condolences to Mrs. Imelda Marzan, Jay Marzan and their family on the death of Barangay Chairperson Tita Marzan-Pablo of Balumpare, Sampaloc, Manila.

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 We wish everybody a Happy Easter and hope that during the rest of the holy week you will be able to meditate and rededicate yourselves to follow the Ten Commandments of our Lord.