Influential

The legend of her invincibility just grows and grows.

The past few days, video of LTO chief Virginia Torres inside a casino circulated on and on until it became news. When it became news, the Palace seemed reluctant to even slightly admonish her.

A 2001 Memorandum Order forbids government officials from casinos. It is simply not healthy for a public servant to be seen gambling. Recall that when Joseph Estrada was president, video showing him in a casino circulated. Terrible things happened after that.

In the previous administration, no ranking government executive was ever reported to be spending time in casinos. The rule was sternly observed.

Not in this administration, apparently. Torres was not even dealt a friendly reprimand, nor a friendly reminder to be more discreet and to exercise good taste.

True, this administration is known to pester its perceived foes no end but is lenient on its own allies. When presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas was caught on camera hoarding pirated DVDs, the whole matter was dismissed as unserious, notwithstanding our formal commitments to the international convention on intellectual property rights. When the investigative panel on the Luneta incident recommended administrative penalties on then Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, the report was set aside. When the Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Grace Padaca, the President no less funded the bail and Mar Roxas no less paid it.

There are many cases against several incumbent presidential appointees filed with the Ombudsman. All of them gather dust on the shelves.

Among these are cases filed against Torres herself, beginning from a complaint about the role she played in the strange attempt of a faction from nowhere to physically occupy the offices of IT service provider Stradcom in 2010. Several more cases have been filed after that over the bizarre war she waged against the IT provider, including withholding the revenues due the private company that now runs in the billions.

Former DOTC secretary Jose “Ping” de Jesus ordered Torres to pay Stradcom to prevent disruption in the vital services the company supplies. Torres refused. Rather than deal with her insubordination, the venerable Ping de Jesus chose to abruptly end his career in the Aquino II cabinet.

His successors, Mar Roxas and incumbent Jun Abaya, have not been too successful either in reining in Torres. At one point, she wanted to change the drivers’ licenses from the present credit card-type back to a paper-based document. Now she wants to change all the car plates in the country in the last quarter of this year even if the matter was never coordinated with the IT service provider whose contract is merely extended until proper bidding could be held for a successor. As things stand, there is a large backlog in car plates that extends for many months.

Although the Supreme Court has long settled the intra-corporate dispute within Stradcom, Torres continues to withhold its revenue stream even as three DOTC secretaries in a row instructed her to release payments so as not to compromise services. Torres continues to hold on to a whopping P4 billion of Stradcom’s money.

Poor Stradcom needed to borrow money to keep its operations going, absorbing the cost of financing. When its contract expired, Stradcom opted not to participate in bidding for the new one. There are more enjoyable ways of doing its business than dealing with a character like Torres.

Torres, however, was ill-prepared to hold biddings for a new contractor. Government had to compel Stradcom to continue doing its work. Stradcom obliged, but only out of sheer patriotism.

When Stradcom sued Torres to compel her to hand over the company’s revenues LTO keeps in an escrow account, the BIR stepped in to compound the service provider’s woes. The BIR now wants Stradcom to pay over P300 million in taxes even if the LTO has not released the company’s revenues. What an Orwellian situation we have here.

This week, the company’s bank accounts were garnished to compel it to pay taxes supposedly due on income Torres withholds. Stradcom’s horrifying experience with Torres probably discouraged other potential service providers to step up and bid for the IT service contract.

Stradcom has such immense patience. If I were in their shoes, I would simply pack up and walk away, leaving the LTO to return to typewriters and carbon paper.

The NIA and the BI could not be more badly managed than the LTO, but the two agencies were targets of presidential ire and their chiefs sacked. Corruption is perceived as rampant at the LTO as it is at the Customs bureau. But the Customs bureau was severely excoriated in the last state of the nation speech.

The problems just pile up at the LTO. There are no car plates and stickers. Motorists are grumbling over the inefficiency. Hot cars still manage to get registered. Stolen vehicles still manage to acquire new documentation. Frontline services are deteriorating.

Notwithstanding, Virginia Torres is found gambling leisurely in a casino. The contrast is simply jarring. It is like watching Nero fiddle while Rome burned.

The latest word from the Palace mouths is to the effect that Torres is the DOTC’s problem. That is like Pontius Pilate washing his hands of an incomprehensible case.

Two DOTC secretaries have come and gone, unable to tame the Torres problem. The present DOTC secretary does not seem too willing to deal with it.

What talisman does Torres wield and what amulet does she wear to make her so invincible against all the odds?