WILL the Senate snap up a claimed audio recording of an alleged conversation between a “ranking government official” and a lawmaker about covering up the massacre of elite police officers a year ago in Mamasapano, Maguindanao?
Retired police Chief Supt. Diosdado Valeroso told the media last Tuesday that he had a digital copy of the supposed “coverup” conversation that took place one or two days after the Jan. 25 carnage of 44 commandos of the PNP Special Action Force.
His revelation drew suggestions that the Senate committee on public order chaired by Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares subpoena the reported recording and invite the police retiree to testify during the panel’s Mamasapano inquiry set to reopen tomorrow.
But Valeroso’s copy, by his own admission, was unverified. As it was/is raw information, Poe’s committee may find it imprudent to dignify by accepting it at this stage.
The former police superintendent could not vouch for the reliability of the source or the authenticity of the recording that was emailed to him last Jan. 19. Neither did he say, because he did not know, if the copy has not been tampered with or edited.
Admitting it as evidence without any committee member’s endorsement may send the Senate inquiry on a wild goose chase and expose to ridicule the senators, especially Poe who is running for president.
• Who ordered military to ‘stand down’?
QUESTIONS have been asked also if the alleged recording is not being planted into the Senate record to reduce the hearing into a comedy of confusion, and blunt the impact of the formal revelations of Enrile.
Among the points of interest in the rewinding of the Mamasapano record is the question of who gave the reported “Negative. Negative. Stand down!” order to the military.
Valeroso’s recording cannot include that part as it was made, he said, “a day or two” after the massacre. (But the intelligence service is likely to have something on that as it normally captures messages sent and received during important operations.)
The recording which, according to Valeroso, sounded like a “face-to-face” conversation was about a plan to cover up the Mamasapano massacre to prevent its possibly derailing the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Enrile said that he had witnesses and evidence that President Noynoy Aquino was involved in the planning and monitoring of the botched SAF operation to neutralize two high-value terrorists.
The senator has not said if Valeroso is one of his witnesses. Enrile has developed links and sources over the many years he was on top of the country’s security network before he broke away from then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
• Fake, unsafe LPG tanks abound
AMONG the important bills overtaken in the Senate by the election campaign is SB 2897, the proposed LPG Industry Regulation and Safety Act of 2015 that could help take away fake and unsafe cooking gas tanks from the market.
When fire is reported to have started from a leaking liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder, the usual presumption is that the leak was in the pressure meter/valve.
Unknown to many, some old tanks explode because their body had been worn thin by illegal refillers who file away the embossed original brand name and stencil in fake names. After repeated filing, the side of the tank grows thin and liable to burst.
Bureau of Fire Protection statistics show that around 100 fires yearly are caused by defective LPG tanks nationwide. A quarter of the 14 million gas cylinders used in the country, or 3.5 million, are defective. These are fire hazards.
Industry sources said the culprits in illegal rebranding are the unauthorized and ill-equipped distributors who copy popular brands onto old tanks (whose content is usually underweight) bearing genuine-looking but fake seals.
The LPG bill, stranded in the committee on trade chaired by Sen. Bam Aquino, seeks to pinpoint responsibility and improve coordination among various agencies, including the trade and energy departments, that share in the tasks of upgrading and regulating the LPG business.
Among its objectives is to drive out of the market fly-by-night retailers and unauthorized refillers who shortchange customers.
The government loses at least P50 million monthly or P600 million a year from VAT sales that are not reported by illegal LPG refillers and players. This amount could build 600 classrooms, or fund the DoE payroll for two years.
• Price of LPG has gone down, but…
THE LPG bill, first filed in the 13th Congress (2004-2007), clarifies ownership of cooking gas cylinders to determine who is responsible for their inspection and maintenance. This works for the safety of an estimated 8.5 million household using LPG.
A survey of the Department of Energy last Jan. 5 in Metro Manila showed that there are 24 assorted brands in the market.
The price of petroleum-based fuel, including LPG, has been going down because of the downtrend of the price of crude oil in the global market experiencing an oversupply.
After the last price reduction early this month, the lowest LPG retail price in Metro Manila was that of Regasco (P420 per 11-kg tank), followed by Philgas (P430). Highest price per the DoE survey was that of EC Gas (P680).
Some of the other brands and their price ranges last week were Solane (P540-P560), Gasul (P471-P526), Liquigaz (P450-P535) and Totalgaz (P450-P540).
The new law is expected to encourage more investments and more companies to participate in the LPG sector. Because of rampant cheating in the industry, several oil companies (including Shell and Chevron) have sold their LPG businesses.
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