A demolition job?

We’re seeing it clearly: how demolition jobs are hatched up to smash a political candidate’s credibility. False charges are mounted against this enemy, like his having a multi-million dollar mansion in California, or like his being a psychiatric case, or like his/her having worked for the reduction of teachers and soldiers’ benefits. The gullible would easily believe these charges.

On the other hand, legitimate organizations may have come upon, if not fully investigated, a “wrongdoing” of a political candidate — the results of which the candidate is hard put to demolish. The question is the timing of the revelation.

“Which is exactly what’s happening to United Nationalist Alliance senatorial bet JV Ejercito Estrada, one of the frontrunners in the run-up to the May midterm elections,” say Estrada’s media handlers.

“The intention of the obvious demolition job, which is to cast doubt on his integrity, and thus bring him down from his lofty perch in the senatorial contest, has been foiled because no one believes the unfounded accusations.”

A year-long multi-country investigation by the Washington, D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has resulted in a partial list of more than 500 mostly private Philippine residents with ties to offshore corporations.

In a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (a member of the ICIJ), Congressman Estrada-Ejercito, Senator Manuel Villar and Ilocos Norte Representative Imee Marcos Manotoc are on the list of businessmen-politicians owning secret offshore corporations in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), “a privacy and tax haven where a global elite of wealthy people like to keep their money away from the prying eyes of the authorities.”   

According to the PCIJ report, “To be sure, owning or managing offshore corporations or trusts in tax havens is perfectly legal in the Philippines. To defenders of offshore centers, these places are not necessarily about illicit activities but about legal and tax neutrality for international joint ventures. Compared to incorporating the joint venture in one of the investors’ home country, setting it up in an offshore haven does not give advantage to any of the investors. This also minimizes taxes on the joint venture itself, leaving it to the investors to pay taxes based on tax regulations of their respective home countries.”

“Yet, offshore corporations and trusts remain controversial worldwide because they are sometimes used to hide illicit wealth and income from corruption, tax evasion, and shadowy economic activities,” says the PCIJ story.

 The ICIJ investigation found that Ejercito is a director of a BVI company called Ice Bell Properties Limited formed on July 8, 1999, when his father, Joseph Estrada, was still president. Ejercito was then a nominee to Congress of the Kabataan ng Masang Pilipino, a party-list group affiliated with his father’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino. Two years later, in 2001, he became mayor of San Juan City, Estrada’s political bailiwick.

Villar has denied any wrongdoing in his offshore account. Manotoc is reported to leave the matter to her lawyers.

Estrada-Ejercito, for his part, did not confirm or deny his directorship in Ice Bell Properties Limited. Instead, he raised questions about the timing of this story, which, he said, “is highly suspicious considering the on-going electoral campaign of which I am one of the leading contenders among the UNA senatorial candidates.”

He added that the report brought back “the sad memories of 2001 when I was accused of owning a house inside the posh Forbes Park, which actually was owned by relatives of the Sultan of Brunei, and false accusations of other supposed business assets that did not belong to me.”

Estrada disclosed a fairly detailed list of his business interests and financial connections in over two dozens of family-owned and publicly listed companies in his SALNs from 2001, when he began his political career as San Juan City mayor, to 2009. But Ice Bell Properties Limited does not appear in any of his SALNs.

Estrada-Ejercito has denied outright even keeping a $1 offshore bank account in the BVI.

In his letter to PCIJ, he said he had “accurately declared all my assets, liabilities, and net worth in my Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) since 2001 when I became mayor of San Juan and up to the present, that I am now a member of the House of Representatives.”

Estrada-Ejercito, as in earlier conversations with media persons, has offered a simple explanation to clear his name of wrongdoing. Even before he entered public service, first as mayor and later as congressman, he was already a successful businessman, having invested in various enterprises, he said.

He said he turned San Juan into a progressive municipality and later into a first-class city with high income, thus allowing it to provide adequate social services like education and health to his constituents.

As a congressman, he consistently batted for a higher budget for state universities and colleges, and his efforts paid off with a hefty increase in the budget of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) this year.

He also worked untiringly to have the Kasambahay bill pass through the legislative mill, thus giving house help better pay and working conditions, in addition to more benefits, such as PhilHealth and Pag-ibig coverage.

His platform of government, which covers education, jobs, workers’ rights and welfare, and Mindanao socio-economic development, reflects a sincere desire to help the poor and marginalized sectors of society to secure a better future.

Whatever happened to the pledge of the political parties and coalitions that this campaign should be kept at a high level and focused on issues rather than personalities?

You and I know that this pledge has never been kept.

Estrada-Ejercito remains undaunted by the PCIJ report. He told media persons the voters will show their belief in his capabilities and his having committed anything wrong in the May elections.

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After touching the hearts of more than 700 worshipers at UCCP-Cosmopolitan Church on Easter Sunday, March 31, with the dramatized cantata, “Jesus the Resurrection,” the Pilgrims’ Choir will head down south to bring their brand of inspiration and evangelism. The music of Joel Lindsey and Sue Smith — matched by the lush choreography of Levi Capule and the direction of Shirley B. Nerecina — is all set to reverberate inside UCCP churches in Surigao del Norte and Siargao, whose congregations have been enthusiastically awaiting this concert tour. 

Not even the limitation of funds can dampen the spirit of these young “Pilgrims,” who will travel on April 26 to Tacloban City, where they will catch a bus that will take them to Surigao. The concert tour will take them to UCCP-Mainit (April 27), UCCP-Alipao and UCCP-Surigao City (April 28), and UCCP-Dapa, Siargao on April 29. The choir’s appearance in Dapa coincides with that congregation’s 50th anniversary.

“Babes” M. Morales, Pilgrims’ Choir president, says that this particular concert tour is very special in that they are doing it as part of UCCP-Cosmopolitan Church’s 80th anniversary celebration and they are determined to spread the message that the spirit of joyful worship will always be a part of UCCP-Cosmo’s identity.

The Pilgrims’ Choir is the choir of the Visayan Service of Cosmopolitan Church, United Church of Christ in the Philippines. They welcome interested singers to join their ranks. Rehearsals take place every Saturday afternoon.

The choir welcomes donations toward the concert tour. Donations may be made to the church office, clearly marked “Pilgrims’ Choir Concert Tour 2013.” An official receipt will be issued.

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Email: dominitorrevillas@gmail.com