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Opinion

Comelec supportive of communist fronts?

SHOOTING STRAIGHT - Bobit S. Avila - The Philippine Star

First off, allow me to congratulate Mr. Wilson and Melanie Ng of Ng Khai Development Corp. on the occasion of their 19th anniversary and the inauguration of the Engy Tech Building and Lakwatsa Resto Lounge. I was up there for the soft opening of the Lakwatsa Resto Lounge which Wilson envisions to host cultural shows… something that many restaurants do not offer because of the huge cost that it entails. But Wilson’s love for music and  his having his own musical group allows him to have these cultural shows in his own building. Hence, you can expect this place to become one of Cebu’s tourist destinations. Kudos to Wilson Ng for creating this place at the time when Cebu really had nothing much to offer for our tourists.

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Yesterday at the 888 Forum, the special guest was Rep. Jack Enrile who by now you already known that he is seeking a Senate seat. I have known Jack Enrile since my younger days… more so that in the mid-70s we would bump at each other when we were doing Motocross races. He told me that he still had his Bultaco, a Spanish dirt bike, and his Honda Elsinore 125, which I got brand new way back in 1974. But we were never really friends because he belonged to the rich and powerful political class, while we were nobodies, who just wanted to race motorcycles at our own expense.

After CCTN’s Bobby Knight asked him a query on political dynasties, which then led to my first question, whether he would agree to have the pork barrel removed, after all, this is the very motivation of political families that wanted to hand down their elective positions to their children like an heirloom. Well, Rep. Enrile said that if this is what Congress and the Senate would pursue, he would not object to it. So I asked if he would spearhead such a movement in the Senate… hmmm he was a bit non-committal on this. After all, pork barrel is the politician’s goose.

My other question is about the need to overhaul the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which I’ve been writing in my columns here and the Philippine Star on the need to break it down so that the Comelec Chairman would not become a mini-dictator just like the way Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes is acting today. Rep. Jack Enrile said that he would look into it.

Finally, I told Rep. Enrile that under the 1987 Constitution, we Cebuanos do not even have any representation in the Senate because Senators are voted at large (I don’t know why our Constitutionalists, Hilario Davide, Jr. or Fr. Joaquin Bernas allowed this to happen), hence we have no Cebuanos in the Senate. Again, I pointed out clearly that Sen. Serge Osmeña would openly admit that he is more Ilonggo than Cebuano.

Rep. Jack Enrile said that he and his father, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile would like to see the Philippines shift into a Federal System of governance. With him and his father in the Senate…surely we can push for a Federal system… so the question is when can this materialize? For sure not under the leadership of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III, who vehemently refuses to change the 1987 Constitution named after his mother. Hence, chances are, any possible shifts in our constitution could only happen after the Aquino Presidency is over and done with. In the meantime, we shall wait for that day when we will become a Federal nation.

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I just heard that the National Alliance for Democracy (ANAD) was disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for not being marginalized. Why disqualify them? This proves to you that Comelec is very biased against the groups who are staunchly anti-communist, which is why I have always supported ANAD since I’ve been an Anti-Com member for 25-years now. But funny, there are many above ground communist groups like Bayan and Gabriela that continue to be protected by the Comelec.

What about Akbayan Partylist? Aren’t they too far to the left also? No less than Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III openly declared, “Akbayan and I think like one.” This was probably taken as a signal by the Comelec that Akbayan should be deemed “untouchable.” But the question is… is Akbayan a marginalized group? Well, apparently when it comes to money, they are awashed with cash!

A good friend of mine emailed me a Statement on Election Contributions and Expenditures during the May 10, 2012 elections for the Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party. This Comelec document showed Akbayan having P112,183,000.00 in campaign contributions as attested by Arlene Santos, who in that record gave P5,250.000.00. Did the BIR even check where she got this money to give to Akbayan? The name of Margarita Juico (Isn’t she PCSO Chair now?) gave a cash donation of P 1 million. Was this from her own pocket or PCSO?  Me thinks we need to investigate Akbayan on this.

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Email: [email protected].

ACTION PARTY

AKBAYAN

AKBAYAN AND I

AKBAYAN CITIZEN

AKBAYAN PARTYLIST

AQUINO

COMELEC

JACK ENRILE

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