The Lunas of Abra: (standing, from left) Dangdangla, Bangued Barangay Captain Buc Roger Luna, Bangued Mayor Ryan Luna, Lagayan ABC President Jendricks Luna, Cromwell Luna, former Lagayan Vice Mayor Hans Roger Luna. (seated, from left) Lagayan Vice Mayor Lara Haya Luna, Derdrei Luna-Ifurong, former Lagayan mayor and congresswoman Cecilia Seares-Luna and Rochelle Luna.

By LUZ RIMBAN

TWO prominent members of a powerful political family in Abra are facing plunder charges for allegedly embezzling more than P130 million in municipal funds, in what a whistleblower has called “big-time corruption in a small town.”

Named in a complaint-affidavit are former Abra congresswoman Cecilia Seares-Luna and her eldest son Jendricks. Cecilia served as mayor of Lagayan town from 1998 to 2007, when she ran for Abra’s lone congressional seat. Jendricks succeeded her as mayor in 2007, ran for barangay captain in October 2010 and is now president of Lagayan’s Association of Barangay Captains.

Jendricks allegedly continues to control the town, whose current mayor, Cecilia’s 82-year-old aunt Purificacion Paingan, was likewise accused of dereliction of duty purportedly for allowing him “to take over the helm of the municipality and continue his plunder of the town coffers” as ABC president.

The complainant is Bernadine Joson, the Lunas’ erstwhile trusted lieutenant who served as Lagayan’s municipal planning and development officer from 1998 until a few months ago.

In her complaint-affidavit, Joson described Lagayan as “a story of how key members of a political family in a small far-flung, underdeveloped town in Abra, over a period of a little more than a decade, in the absence of a viable system of checks and balances, has been raiding and plundering the town’s coffers.”

She said Lagayan’s experience reflects in varying degrees what is happening in many small and remote towns where local government officials act as overlords who do whatever they want to constituents living in fear and ignorance.

Contacted by phone, Jendricks said, “Pabayaan mo siyang mag-file (Let her file the case).” He challenged Joson to prove her allegations or he will file his own charges against her.

Jendricks described Joson as “sour grapes” who was dragging him into her rift with the municipal treasurer. He added that he is now “just a barangay captain” busy focusing on his businesses in Manila.”

Also accused of graft and corruption are Lara Haya Luna, Lagayan vice mayor and youngest daughter of Cecilia, a nursing student who spends most of her time in Manila.

Joson’s complaint said Lara never presided over a meeting of the Sangguniang Bayan, which is part of her duties as vice mayor and sanggunian chair. The Lagayan council met only four times since it was constituted in July 2010.

Also named “conspirators” of the Lunas are municipal engineer Osborne Dolaoen, municipal accountant Meno Dickenson and municipal treasurer Marissa Donato, Cecilia’s second cousin.

Lagayan is a fifth-class town with a population of just over 4,000 spread out in only five barangays located in northwestern Abra bordering Ilocos Norte. Yet its huge land area of 215 square kilometers entitles it to substantial Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government.

The province’s records show that Lagayan received P32 million in IRA in 2009, ranking eighth out of Abra’s 27 towns.

Joson said she decided to come out because she “cannot keep on hearing no evil and seeing no evil,” which included the Lunas’ supposed underpayment of salaries and benefits to municipal employees, payment of ghost employees and projects, and the non-existent offices and operations despite provisions for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) listed in the approved budget.

She also said everyone in Lagayan, especially municipal employees, live in fear of the Lunas who reportedly maintain a private army.

Several positions in Lagayan remain unfilled, including those of the health officer, social welfare officer, agriculturist and budget officer. Yet, the Lunas have been spending the funds allocated for these positions and offices, Joson said in her complaint.

“This was possible because during this period and until now, key members of the family and their cronies controlled key offices of the local government, including the Sangguniang Bayan,” she said.

Joson alleged that from 2003 to 2006, when Cecilia was mayor, the town was unable to account for at least P56.3 million in municipal funds. The bulk of this amount, some P40 million, was money intended for development projects that were never implemented. Nearly P8 million came from underpayment of employee salaries and benefits, while another P8 million from savings from vacant positions.

“Wala akong ginagawang ganun (I did no such thing),” Cecilia said in a phone interview.

She also said that when Jendricks was mayor from 2007 to 2010, he pocketed some P75 million in municipal funds, P30 million of which came from underpayment of employee salaries, ghost operations expenses, and the nonpayment of clothing allowances of P3,000 per year per employee.

Joson added that Jendricks pocketed P33.4 million in funds for development projects that never materialized but were approved and appropriated for in the Annual Investment Plan.

Another P11.4 million in savings from vacant positions and underpayment of salaries for 52 municipal employees could not be accounted for, she said.

Jendricks said municipal records would dispute the allegations being made by Joson, whom he accused of having run off with her own “accountabilities.” He accused Joson of carting away computers and laptops, and that she left without a proper turnover.

He also accused Joson of forging the signatures of town officials in a resolution she sent to the Department of Finance’s Bureau of Local Finance. He described Joson as someone who had accumulated salary loans from the Land Bank, making her fellow employees sign her loans as co-makers and leaving them to pay her obligations.

The Commission on Audit, in its report on Lagayan for 2008 and 2009, has taken note of the questionable financial practices of town officials, such as purchasing supplies and materials without public bidding, disbursing funds without documentation, and implementing projects despite the absence of an Annual Procurement Plan (APP).

In its 2009 audit report, the COA said, “The municipality implemented projects by administration and purchased supplies and materials with a total cost of P8,961,828.00 and paid equipment rentals totaling P1,361,126.00 without public bidding.”

“Fund disbursement of P7,851,001.50 from January to December 2009 lacked complete documentation” in violation of the Local Government Code and the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, the COA also said.

Despite the absence of an APP, the town bought goods costing P3,021,066.76 and implemented projects amounting to P13,068,957.62. “It was the practice of the municipality to procure supplies and materials on a need basis and resort to emergency purchase whenever supplies were needed,” in violation of the procurement law or Republic Act No. 9184,” the COA said.

The COA noted that the projects the town reported as accomplishments in 2008 and 2009 could not be inspected because the program of work, contract, purchase orders and order required documents were not submitted.

In her complaint, Joson said the Lunas did not even spare funds intended for the employees’ contributions to the Government Service Insurance System. The COA reports showed that the town had been delinquent in paying the annual GSIS premiums of about P260,000 from 2007 to 2009.

Jendricks denied the allegation. “Sobra sobra nga (much, much more),” he said of the payments made to the GSIS in behalf of its employees.

The Lunas are today considered one of Abra’s most feared and influential families. In the capital Bangued, Cecilia’s third son, Ryan, is mayor while her nephew Allan Seares is vice mayor. Her youngest daughter Lara Haya is the vice mayor of Lagayan, a position previously held by Cecilia sixth child, Hans, who was vice mayor to Jendricks from 2007 to 2010.

In the 2010 elections, three of Cecilia’s sons were running for mayor of different Abra towns: oldest son Jendricks for Lagayan, second son Cromwell for Tineg, and third son Ryan for Bangued. Cecilia herself ran for re-election as representative.

In March 2010, as the campaign for local elections was getting underway, Cromwell and 50 heavily armed guards appeared at the kindergarten graduation of Tineg Central School in Barangay Agsimao. The town is Abra’s most remote, but the one with the biggest IRA.

In a handwritten affidavit, eyewitnesses said children, old men and women wailed, while everyone else ran for cover as the men fired their M-14, M-16 and M-203 rifles indiscriminately at the crowd.

Because of criticism of having three brothers running for public office, Joson said Jendricks withdrew his candidacy for mayor of Lagayan. The Lunas fielded Cecilia’s 82-year-old aunt, Purificacion Paingan, in his stead. She won, as did Ryan for Bangued mayor. Cromwell and Cecilia, however, lost their bids.

In October 2010, Jendricks successfully ran for barangay captain of Poblacion in Lagayan and was later elected head of the Association of Barangay Captains, a position that allows him to sit in the municipal council. He is also a director of the Abra Electric Cooperative.

In her affidavit, Joson said Jendricks blamed his mother’s resounding defeat on two towns—La Paz and Danglas—whose voters rejected her in the 2010 elections.

Langayan’s P1.5 million river diversion project blocked the flow of the Tineg River from Lagayan town to two towns where Cecilia Seares-Luna had lost in her congressional reelection bid in 2010.

On his orders, Joson said, she inserted in the town’s Annual Investment Plan for 2011 the amount of P1.5 million for a river diversion project, which blocked the flow of the Tineg River from Lagayan to the two towns as well as to Dolores and diverted the water to another town.

Joson said Jendricks used the funds for the rental of a backhoe and a grader, purchases of gasoline and salaries of drivers. “No one could stop him, because he deployed around 100 of his armed goons to guard the diversion,” she said.

“The result of the diversion was catastrophic to the municipalities downstream: rice just planted on middens along the river’s banks withered, and fishponds and fish pens dried up. In just two months (Dec. 12, 2010–Jan. 16, 2011), agriculture in the three municipalities sustained an estimated P50 million in losses,” said the complaint.

Tension gripped Abra, forcing Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin to call in the Army because Jendricks would not be pacified and stopped from his river diversion plan. More than 100 riot policemen from Manila were sent to Abra to restore order, and make Jendricks agree to restore the river to its normal flow.

Cecilia has said in media interviews that she used to be a contractor for the Department of Public Works and Highways at the time that her mother, Anita Seares, was mayor of Lagayan. In 1998, Cecilia herself ran for the post and won by just one vote.  She tells reporters she sells beauty products and even became an agent of the insurance company Philamlife while she was mayor.

By the time her first term as mayor ended in 2001, she had become a wealthy woman, reporting assets of more than P19 million and liabilities of P13 million, for a total net worth of P6 million.

Her 2001 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth shows she owned four pieces of real estate then. Two of them were acquired after she became mayor in 1998: a house in Quezon City supposedly acquired through a P6.9 million loan in 1999 and a low-cost housing unit bought purportedly through a P375,000 loan—her SALN does not say where—in 2000.

The SALN shows she acquired two cars—a Toyota Altis car and a Kia Pregio van—for P1.65 million in 2000.

By 2007, Cecilia’s net worth had grown to P22.4 million. Her SALN listed 10 pieces of property. These include seven pieces acquired from 1984 to 1999—two residential properties in Quezon City and the rest pasture, forestland and riceland in Abra—and which she omitted to declare in 2001.

Cecilia’s 2007 SALN also listed 11 vehicles: six trucks, a Mistubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi GSR, Ford Linx, Ford Trekker and a “Ford 4×4.” Three of the six trucks were acquired from 1995 to 1997. But like her some of her real property, Cecilia did not declare them in 2001.

By 2008, Cecilia had added a Ford Expedition, Forest Everest and Ford Widetrac to her fleet of vehicles, and her reported net worth had risen to P25.87 million.

A COMMISSION on Elections executive who investigated the overpriced P690-million ballot secrecy folder contract bought for the May 2010 elections with OTC paper supply has been put on “floating” status.

Ferdinand Rafanan, director of the Comelec’s Law Department since June 2008, was not given any position after the Comelec commissioners, in an en banc decision on Aug. 2, reshuffled some offices in the agency.

Instead, he was designated to the Joint Department of Justice-Comelec Investigating committee, an ad hoc body created to investigate frauds in the 2004 and 2007 election.

Update: Rafanan removed from DOJ-Comelec probe team. Brillantes says he is “uncontrollable.”

“It’s constructive dismissal,” Rafanan said.

Ironically, Rafanan was replaced by lawyer Allen Francis Abaya , Director III of the Comelec Electoral Contests and Adjudication Department , who, together with Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino and other members of the Comelec Bids and Awards committee, were suspended for six months by the Ombudsman over the grossly overpriced secrecy folder.

Abaya and his colleagues returned to the Comelec after serving out their suspension.

Rafanan said his designation to the committee is not a “re-assignment.” A re-assignment, he said, would be to an equivalent existing unit of the same government agency. The DOJ-Comelec investigating committee does not fall in that category.

A re-assignment, he further said, should not diminish an employee’s rank, status and salary. “Definitely, my status has been diminished,” said Rafanan, who has the rank of Director IV.

Rafanan said he has written Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, the commissioners and the Personnel Department that “he is not waiving his rights as permanently appointed Director IV of the Law Department as per appointment duly approved by the Civil Service Commission” even as he accepted membership in the ad hoc DOJ-Comelec committee.

Less than three weeks after Abaya replaced Rafanan in the Law Department, the Office of the Ombudsman found him guilty of “simple neglect of duty, simple misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service” still on the secrecy folders case.

He was ordered suspended for six months without pay. Also found guilty and suspended were Maria Lea Alarkon and Antonio Santella.

Cleared for insufficient evidence were Tolentino, Maria Norina Casingal and Martin Niedo.

Brillantes, in a TV interview, complained about the severity of the sentence on Abaya. He said it should have been only two weeks because it was just “simple neglect of duty.”

Rafanan said there have been issues in the Comelec where he had been straightforward in expressing his opinion about problems in the poll body’s implementation of its mandate of holding credible elections. One was the illegal extension of registration for the barangay elections which caused a delay in the preparation of that election. The delay caused non-holding of election in 6,000 barangays on election day. Comelec had to hold the elections three days after.

Rafanan said he has been getting pressure to clear high-ranking officials involved in election crimes.

THE military fact-finding board created to investigate allegations of the soldiers’ involvement in the 2004 election cheating did not pursue information given by two Marine officers of the money distributed by a general during and after elections that did not need liquidation.

The summary of the interviews of the 70 persons called by the board, which forms part of the declassified Mayuga Report, showed that Lt. Colonels Victoriano Pimentel and Elmer A. Estopin revealed they were given money by then Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, head of antiterrorist Task Force Comet in Western Mindanao and vice commander of the Southern Command.

Pimentel was then commander of the Marine Battalion Landing Team-4 while Estopin headed the MBLT-10.  Both were based in Sulu where then President Gloria Arroyo beat opponent Fernando Poe Jr., 78,429 to 60,807, in the congressional count for Sulu. But the tally of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, which had tabulated all of Sulu’s election returns, showed Poe leading Arroyo 45,740 to 23,896.

Referring to Pimentel’s testimony, the summary of interviews said, “During the election period, he admitted to have received money from TF Comet under MGen Habacon the amount between P90,000-100,000 and distributed the money to the Company Commanders and Platoon Leaders to support requirements such as meals, water and other basic needs. He admitted he did not submit or directed any expenditure report about the funds received from TF Comet.”

The summary added, “He admitted having received P70,000 cash after the election from MGen Habacon. He said that said cash was an additional support for the election. He recalled that the money was inside an envelope and distributed to Battalion Commanders by MGen Habacon at the 104th Brigade Headquarters. He did not submit any form of liquidation or consumption report about the money he received from (MGen) Habacon.”

The summarized interviews also revealed that Estopin “received fund support for election duties personally given by the Cmdr Task Force Comet, Gen Habacon, but it was given after the election. …The cash was around P75,000 which he claimed to have been distributed to his Company through his Logistics Officer but was not required to liquidate.”

The summary of Habacon’s interview did not show that he was asked by Mayuga and the other commissioners about Pimentel and Estopin’s revelations. He was also not asked the source of the money he distributed to the officers.

The funding for the military’s participation in the amount of P197 million was coursed through y Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections), whose operations were handled by then Brig. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., deputy chief of staff for operations.

Esperon told the board, headed by former Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, that on the liquidation of funds, “it is automatic that when you received funds, you have to liquidate that.”

During a Senate hearing earlier this month, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada referred to reports that then First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo made several trips to Mindanao, including Western Mindanao, before, during and after the 2004 elections. He reportedly carried boxes or bags of cash believed to have been used to bribe military and poll officers in Mindanao to ensure his wife’s victory in the election, according to Estrada.

Habacon was referred to twice in the “Hello, Garci” tapes, both involving the canvassing in Sulu.

In her conversation with then elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on May 29, Arroyo expressed concern over the opposition’s claim that it had affidavits from teachers and the board of canvassers in Pangutaran town of how they were made to cheat.

Garcillano blamed Habacon: “Kasi sila Gen. Habacon ba, hindi masyadong marunong pa dyan, medyo sila ang umano nun (It’s General Habacon, they don’t know that much).”

Arroyo would again call Garcillano the late night of June 2 because she was worried about reports that the figures in the Election Returns, Statements of Votes and the Certificates of Canvass in Lanao del Sur and Basilan did not match.

Garcillano confirmed the mistake blaming Habacon and his men. “Sa Basilan, alam nyo naman ang mga military dun eh hindi masyadong marunong kasi silang gumawa eh. Katulad ho dun sa Sulu, si General Habacon…Ang akin patataguin ko na muna yung EO ng Pangutaran na para hindi siya maka-testigo ho (In Basilan, the military didn’t know how to do it, like what happened in Sulu with General Habacon. I’ll instruct the election officer in Pangutaran to go into hiding so he won’t have to testify).”

During the 2004 elections, then Col. Nelson Allaga, head of the 3rd Marine Brigade, was assigned to Sulu’s second congressional district, while his “mistah,” then Col. Nehemias Pajarito of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade, was in charge of Sulu’s first district. Both of them reported to Habacon.

When asked by the Mayuga board about the involvement of military officers in manipulation of election results, Habacon replied, “I cannot answer that.”

Mayuga Report: Summary of Interviews (Part 1)

Mayuga Report: Summary of Interviews (Part 2)

RETIRED Vice Admiral Mateo M. Mayuga once said he would bring the results of his fact-finding mission on the purported involvement of the military in the cheating in the 2004 presidential elections that enabled Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stay in power to his grave.

But Mayuga isn’t getting his way. Recently, President Benigno S. Aquino III declassified his “secret” report, popularly known as the Mayuga Report, and the 15-page executive summary has made its way to the news media.

The document, however, does not contain the sensitive revelations offered by resource persons invited by the commission—70 in all, including 68 officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces, a AFP civilian employee and Commission on Elections Region 9 director Helen Flores.

The revelations are instead buried in the voluminous transcripts of the investigation that measure a meter.

One of the most important revelations excluded from the 15-page report was the testimony of then AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, commander of the 2004 Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections), who urged the Mayuga Commission to have the funds allotted to his task force audited.

The transcripts showed that the one in control of these funds was Task Force HOPE’s deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, who was then the AFP deputy chief of staff for operations (J3).

Garcia had told Mayuga and four other commissioners that “a big amount of money” had been allotted for the military’s role of maintaining honest, orderly and peaceful elections, but he said, “I don’t think what was spent came close to what was given to us.”

The executive summary stated that Comelec released a total of P197 million to Task Force Hope for operational support, reservists and maintenance of mission and essential assets.

Of the P197 million, Lt. Col. Gilbert Gapay, the task force’s disbursing officer, said P101 million went to Intelligence Operations (J2).

Also not included in the executive summary were Garcia’s statements on the participation of the military in electoral fraud, as documented in the “Hello, Garci” tapes, a series wiretapped recordings of conversations of then Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with Arroyo and other government and private personalities.

“I think that is true…Whether you deny it to yourself or not, we have to accept it that our officers have been involved in this,” Garcia said.

He told the investigators to ask everybody in the military if they believe that officers were capable of cheating. The answer, he said, would be “Yes.”

“There are people among us who allowed themselves to be used. I think everybody knows that. It was a fact,” he said.

Garcia said the hand of the Armed Forces officers in the cheating was being talked about in the military circle. “Let us not joke ourselves and try to delude ourselves in the idea na walang nangyari (that nothing happened) because in fact things are happening,” he said.

The then vice chief of staff challenged the factfinding board to “be brave” and make a truthful report. “If you do not do anything, the AFP will go to the dogs,” he warned.

Despite this, the Mayuga Commission cleared all but three military officials: Col. Jose F. Gamos, for joining the campaign sorties; Col. Rey Ardo, a principal staff of Esperon, for distributing leaflets of party-list group Aliance for Nationalsm and Democracy (ANAD); and Capt. Valentino Lopez, for offering Comelec’s Flores P50 million, and later P100 million, to manipulate election results.

In the 2004 elections, Lopez acted as Garcillano’s personal security officer without detail orders from the AFP, in violation of an executive order on the assignment of military personnel to civilian offices and officials.

Also not found in the executive summary was the testimony of then Col. Alexander Balutan who was ordered not to restrict—“luwagan” —cheating operators.

The Mayuga Commission cleared all the generals mentioned in the “Hello, Garci” tapes: Esperon, then Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani (who was accused of favoring the opposition and was replaced by Col. Gomiendo Pirino) and Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko. Arroyo appointed Esperon chief of staff in July 2006.

“There is no statement from the resource persons directly linking them (the generals) or signifying their involvement to any election fraud or anomaly,” the report said.

The board also concluded that “the AFP cannot be entirely faulted for some lapses in the conduct of the deputation duties,” citing overstreched manpower for election duties and lack of clearcut guidelines to frontline units as the chief reasons.

It said the AFP exerted its best efforts to discharge its deputation duties during the actual conduct of the election, noting the reduced incidents of election violence.

Mayuga and his fellow commissioners recommended that the AFP coordinate with Comelec and other deputized agencies for future election concerning board of election duties; deputation by names; clustering of precincts; utilization of military camps for canvassing; and other related laws and issuances.

It also recommended further investigation to determine culpability of some AFP personnel allegedly involved in the 2004 election fraud and to create study groups to formulate policies on AFP participation in future elections.

The fact-finding board was created on July 14, 2005 by then AFP Chief Efren Abu to inquire into the alleged participation of military officers in the 2004 elections as mentioned in the “Hello, Garci” tapes.

The fact-finding board was composed of Mayuga, Maj. Gen. Raul Relano, Maj.Gen Romeo Alamillo, Commodore Emilio Marayag and Col. Caridad Aguilar.

The Mayuga Report — Posted by VERA Files

THE resignation of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim has left unresolved the problem with a politically well-connected tourism official he has brought to the attention of President Aquino.

Highly reliable sources said Lim has informed President Benigno S. Aquino III about alleged questionable activities of Mark Lapid, chief operating officer of Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

But he was told to wait until Congress had passed the Malacanang-initiated postponement of the election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as they needed the vote of Lapid’s father, Sen. Lito Lapid, according to source.

Lapid was former boyfriend of Aquino’s youngest sister Kris.

A former governor of Pampanga, Lapid’s position was also initially listed among the “midnight” or eleventh-hour appointments of then outgoing President Gloria Arroyo.

Lapid, however, said the TIEZA post could not be considered a midnight appointment because it was merely a nominal change from his old post as general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Lim announced Friday his resignation, which he submitted to the President on Monday and takes effect on Aug. 31. He cited “personal” reasons.

“My reason for resigning is personal. I would like to spend more time with my family. My responsibilities require a great deal of travel and time away from my loved ones,” Lim said.

Lim was earlier identified by a newspaper as one of the three Cabinet secretaries that the President complained about as always giving him bad news and headaches.

It was also during Lim’s stint that the Department of Tourism launched the much-criticized promotional campaign “Pilipinas Kay Ganda.”  Tourism Undersecretary Vicente Romano resigned as a result.

In accepting his resignation, Malacanang praised Lim for being a “the chief advocate of the Pocket Open Skies Policy, the landmark breakthrough from the protectionist policies of the past.”

Malacanang also said during Lim’s one year stint as tourism secretary international visitors increased to an unprecedented level: over 3.7 million arrivals between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011.

Lim had submitted his department’s accomplishment to the Palace for inclusion in Aquino’s State of the Nation Address, but this was “deleted,” according to sources.

Following is the full text of Lim’s statement on his resignation:

I would like to announce that I have tendered my resignation as Secretary of Tourism and head of the department’s attached agencies, effective August 31, 2011.

The President has kindly accepted my resignation.

My reason for resigning is personal. I would like to spend more time with my family. My responsibilities require a great deal of travel and time away from my loved ones.

I leave the President’s Cabinet gratified that I have laid the foundation for strong tourism growth, in keeping with the President’s vision of inclusive growth.

I thank the President for the opportunity I was given to serve the Filipino people as a member of his Cabinet.

I have undiminished hopes that the President will realize his vision for all our people. He has my very best wishes for the continued success of his presidency.

AN aggressive overflight reconnaissance over Philippine-claimed isles in the oil-rich Spratlys group of islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) had been monitored and reported to the Philippine military shortly after Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario returned from his visit to Beijing.

On July 11, two unidentified aircraft were spotted in the airspace within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, according to a spot report seen by VERA Files.

Filipino fishermen sighted the aircraft, a gray chopper and a green plane they said resembles a “Tora Tora” or a T-28 fighter plane, flying low at Boxall Reef located 163 nautical miles from the Philippine Navy’s naval station in Ulugan Bay or 97 nautical miles from the southernmost tip of mainland Palawan.

A group of fishermen saw the green plane at 9 a.m. and another group spotted the gray chopper at 10:40 a.m., heading in the same northern direction, the report said.

The Tora Tora-like plane was hovering in the area at an altitude of about 20 feet and the chopper at about 30 feet, it said.

Quoting the fishermen who reported the sighting of the chopper, the military said, “There were more or less five crew on board and wearing green uniform. The small markings on its undercarriage were unreadable.”

On June 4, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin disclosed that an identified fighter plane buzzed about 20 feet over the tip of a Filipino fishing vessel’s antenna in “Dalagang Bukid” or Investigator Shoal, about 210 kilometers off Palawan’s Balabac Island. That scared off the fishermen, he said.

Gazmin said that was then the latest intrusion into Philippine territory in that contested area west of Palawan. He declined to speculate on the identity of the warplane, preferring to call it “unidentified” as reported. However, he said recent intrusions had been blamed on the Chinese.

The Philippines earlier protested to China what it claims were incursions into Philippine territory.

About seven incidents have been reported in recent months, starting off with the shooting in February of Filipino fishing boats at Jackson Atoll by a Chinese warship with bow number 560 that the Philippine military identified as Dongguan, a JIANGHU-V Class Missile Frigate traced to the People’s Liberation Army-Navy South Sea Fleet.

In May, two OV-10 reconnaissance planes of the Philippine Air Force were reportedly buzzed over by a tandem of MIG-29, which was conveniently attributed to belong to China.

But China’s defense chief, who was in Manila on May 23, was quick to deny his country had MIGs in their aircraft inventory. The PAF report on the incident did not identify the make or even the type of the aircraft because only the trace of smoke at an altitude of 5,000 feet was actually seen.

The U.S. Carrier Strike Group 1 led by its mother-ship USS Carl Vinson was in the South China Sea en route to a port call in Manila around the time of the sighting.

During the June 4 sighting of another unidentified fighter jet in Philippine airspace west of Palawan, the USS Chung Hoon and USS Howard were anchored in Palawan for the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Exercise with the Philippine Navy.

Two days before the July 11 sightings off Boxall Reef, the USS George Washington aircraft carrier was navigating the South China Sea en route to a joint naval drill with Australia and Japan off the coast of Brunei.

The first joint military exercise between Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force that sent its destroyer Shimakaze to join a U.S. Navy destroyer and a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat for communications training and other drills in the South China Sea took place on July 9.

Last June 22, China issued its most direct warning to the U.S. amid recent tensions in the disputed South China Sea “to leave the dispute to be sorted out between claimant states.”

There are overlapping maritime jurisdictions and territorial claims over the South China Sea, believed to be abounding in oil and gas. The Philippines occupies nine of the 53 islands it claims in the mineral-rich Spratlys chain in the South China Sea, which China claims wholly. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also staked their claims on some of the 160 islands or so.

In Del Rosario’s first official visit to China last July 7-9, China also stood pat on its position to settle the issue of the territorial dispute bilaterally with claimant countries, in contrast to the Philippines’ strategy of a multilateral approach. China also dismissed Philippine claims of intrusions as it maintains its claim of undisputable sovereignty over the whole of South China Sea.

China also rejected the Philippines’ suggestion to bring the issue of the competing claims before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

The South China Dispute is expected to be high on the agenda in this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Countries Ministerial Meeting, Post Ministerial Conference and ASEAN Regional Forum in Bali.

Del Rosario said during his meeting with his counterpart in Beijing, the Chinese has taken the position that the South China Sea issue should not be discussed in international forums.

“China’s position was that we are neighbors and as close friends, we do it quietly between us in the bilateral scenario. The position we took we have our own national interest to protect and we will be guided accordingly,” he said.

Shen Hong Fang

HARDLINERS in the Chinese Military Academy are raring to teach China’s neighbors “a lesson” for intruding into the South China Sea, which they consider part of their national territory, a Chinese Southeast Asian expert said.

Shen Hong-Fang, professor and senior research fellow at the Center of Southeast Asian studies at Xiamen University, spoke of “a new upsurge” of Chinese nationalism set off by claims made by some Asian countries, including the Philippines, over territory China considers its own.

“Some suggested that it is the right time to adopt necessary measures to teach some countries a lesson,” Shen said, startling participants at the two-day Conference on the South China Sea held in Manila last week.

She added there are those who think it justifiable “for China to launch a war against the invaders.”

The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia have staked claims over some of the 160 islands that constitute the Spratlys in the South China Sea. These countries, along with Indonesia which is a non-claimant, have filed protests before the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) over the “nine-dash line map” China submitted to prove its claim.

That map practically covers the whole of the South China Sea and encroaches over the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone of some its neighbors, the Philippines included.

Brunei and Taiwan are also claiming parts of the Spratlys.

In its note verbale last April 14, China accused the Philippines of having “started to invade and occupy some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha (Spratly) Islands.”

Asked by Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez about the role of the Chinese Military Academy in the leadership’s decisions, Shen said it is “a very influential group. “

The Chinese Military Academy, formally known as the Academy of Military Sciences (AMS), is the highest-level research institute and center of military sciences of the People’s Liberation Army which is a major force in the Chinese government.

A Philippine diplomat who requested anonymity said Shen would not be making such strong statements without the approval of the Chinese government.

Shen reiterated previous declarations of Chinese officials that the South China Sea is a “core interest,” just like Tibet and Taiwan.

She quoted a published statement by Han Xudong, an army colonel and a professor at the PLA’s National Defense University (NDU), that “China’s comprehensive national strength especially in military capabilities is not yet enough to safeguard all of the core national interests.”

Golez expressed concern over what China would do “if their ‘national strength especially in military capabilities’ would be enough to take care of all core national interests.”

Shen also quoted another NDU professor, Zhang Zhongzhao, as saying that “the best time of solving the territory disputes has already passed” and that “diplomatic negotiations alone cannot solve the problem.”

She described Zhang as “a well-known military theorist,” and further quoted him saying that to defend national sovereignty, the Chinese should have the “courage to use the sword if it is really needed.”

Shen said the Chinese government is under public pressure to stand firm on the South China Sea. “If China lost more territory to foreign states, the national honor would be under attack and the people and the army would question the legitimacy of the government,” she said.

“It is of utmost importance that the government is not considered by people or the army as internally or externally weak which in turn could have severe political consequences,” she added.

Included in Shen’s recommendations to ease tension in the South China Sea is joint exploration in disputed areas. The Philippines already took this step during the term of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when it started a Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and Vietnam, which was completed in 2008. At least 70 percent of the coverage of the JMSU is in areas claimed by the Philippines. The constitutionality of the agreement is being questioned in the Supreme Court.

The Manila SCS conference was organized by the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the National Defense College of the Philippines and the Development Academy of Vietnam.

Police trainees are fielded as election inspectors in Lanao del Sur's special elections in July 2010. Photo by Richel V. Umel.

A NEW study by the United Nations has urged the Philippines to end the practice of political appointments at the Commission on Elections and professionalize the electoral body as a step toward addressing the problems of fraud and violence during elections.

The study by the U.N. Development Programme titled “Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia” pointed out that election officials in the Philippines are “subject to political pressure and may make compromises as a result. The vast majority of its personnel are political appointees. Most of its offices are located in local government premises by virtue of the generosity of local incumbents.”

One of seven countries in Asia the UNDP focused on in its study, the Philippines frequently conducts elections, holding two last year—national in May and barangay elections in October—and preparing for another one in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao next year. The Philippines also had seven during the nine-year term of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, including three congressional and local polls.

The other countries included in the study are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand, which held a general election just last Sunday.
The study noted that the number of “electoral democracies” all over the world increased from 76 to 116 from in the decade from 1990 to 2010. The number, however, does not necessarily reflect widening democracy in Asia’s developing countries.

The study noted with alarm that “established democracies in Asia all report some electoral violence: from street protests in Thailand that have gained international attention since the 2006 coup that disposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines that saw 57 people killed, including (32) journalists, as they drove in convoy to register a candidacy for the 2010 elections.”

Despite the frequency of elections being held in the developing world, the UNDP study said, “many states were not achieving broader democratic reforms such as widening political participation, improving representation, increasing accountability or utilizing elections as a legitimate political change management strategy.”

The Philippines’ electoral history, the study noted, was “dominated by martial law, political dynasties, accusations of fraud and violence.”

Because the party system in the country is weak, political families are able to manipulate elections to their favor resulting in many provinces and cities in the country where members of a single could be holding multiple positions. It is not uncommon for parent-child, husband-and-wife, of sibling tandems to control local government units.

In a recent example that caught media attention, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte went on leave pending an official investigation into her punching a court sheriff in the midst of a demolition of squatter shanties. Taking over in her absence is her father, Rodrigo, who is her vice-mayor and the city’s former mayor.

“In the Philippines a weak party system has benefitted political dynasties composed of families and close allies. The existence of political dynasties effectively excludes marginalized groups from participating fully in elections and other political processes, as running for office requires huge amounts of money, connections to government and electoral bodies, and even access to the police and military,” the study said.

Among the measures to address fraud and violence the UNDP study listed are the professionalization of the Comelec and increased capability to enforce and prosecute violators of election laws.

In the Philippines, the Comelec does not merely administer elections, it also supervises the military and the police, especially in areas declared hotspots where violence would be likely to erupt. In the 2010 elections, for example, the non-government organisation Vote Peace blamed the Comelec for failing to approve a resolution that would deploy police and military forces to hotspots in Mindanao such as Lanao del Sur, causing a surge in violence there during election day.

The UNDP study urged the government to investigate and prosecute those behind electoral violence, and to “dismantle and disarm” private militias and other armed groups.

The study noted that “there exists a linkage between election violence and perceived or alleged cheating. Massive cheating or fraud such as conspiracies to bribe voters, tampering with ballots, dishonest counting or rigging voter lists can be the stimulus for a violent reaction by those, including the general public, who believe they have been cheated.”

It also pushed for the passage of House Bill 3655, “An Act Strengthening the Political Party System, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for other Purposes,” to strengthen the country’s party system. Once the bill is passed, the study urged the Commission on Audit to examine the finances of accredited parties.

THE government paid a price for getting Merceditas Gutierrez to resign as Ombudsman, a deal one official justified by saying that subjecting her to a drawn-out impeachment trial would have been an emotional and divisive political exercise.

A highly reliable source said President Benigno Aquino III agreed to the two conditions Gutierrez set in exchange for her resignation. One, she would get her full retirement benefits. Two, government would not file charges against her.

The deal, however, does not preclude private individuals from filing cases against the former Ombudsman, who had also served as acting justice secretary during the Arroyo administration, the source said.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda denied that any deal was forged with Gutierrez. “There was no deal,” he said.

Lacierda added that Gutierrez might have “seen the writing on the wall, as evidenced by the overwhelming votes in the House of Representatives to impeach her.”

Appointed Ombudsman in December 2005, Gutierrez’s term of office was supposed to end in December 2012. Her resignation took effect on May 6.

The Judicial and Bar Council is expected to finalize Monday the shortlist of candidates to replace Gutierrez. Among the 26 nominated are recently retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales and lawyers Jose Manuel Diokno and Ernesto Francisco.

Ironically, it was another deal that led, first to calls for Gutierrez’s impeachment, and then her resignation. As Ombudsman, she approved a plea bargain agreement in which former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller Carlos Garcia surrendered some of his unexplained assets in exchange for the dismissal of plunder charges against him.

On March 22, the House of Representatives approved—by a vote of 210 to 47, with four abstentions—House Resolution 1089 calling for Gutierrez’s impeachment. Seven cases were submitted as bases for the charge of betrayal of public trust. These include her failure to act on the P728 million fertilizer fund scam and to file appropriate cases against ranking Philippine National Police officials caught in Moscow carrying large sums of euros not declared with the Philippine Bureau of Customs.

The resolution also accused Gutierrez of violating her constitutional mandate when she absolved officials of the Commission on Election in the anomalous Mega Pacific deal, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in the suit over the $328 million national broadband project with the Chinese firm ZTE, and Philippine Navy officials implicated in the death of Ensign Philip Pestaño. Had she not resigned, the impeachment trial at the Senate would have started May 9, 2011.

Crusading anti-graft lawyer and former solicitor general Frank Chavez, who had declined the nomination for Ombudsman, said the agreement Gutierrez struck with the Aquino administration in exchange for her resignation “doesn’t sit well in the order of things.”

Even if Malacañang’s commitment doesn’t prevent him and other individuals from filing cases against Gutierrez, it is still “prejudgment” and “wraps her with a mantle of immunity, ” he said.

Chavez asked, “What if someone files a case against her for betrayal of public trust or violations of the penal code and she is convicted?”

A conviction, he said, would carry the punishment of a ban from holding public office and forfeiture of her retirement benefits.

“This smacks of a backroom kitchen recipe,” the former solicitor general said.

The source who revealed the deal to VERA Files said immediately after the House of Representatives voted for to impeach her, Gutierrez called an Aquino government official asking for advice. “Ano ba ang gagawin ko (What am I going to do)?” she said.

The source said the Aquino government official had dealt with Gutierrez a number of times during the nine-year Arroyo administration.

The source said the official advised her to resign. “Wala kang panalo diyan (You are not going to win).”

The source said there was no immediate reaction from Gutierrez. A few weeks later, at a reception, the official met a banker who is a close friend of Gutierrez. The banker agreed to arrange a meeting between Gutierrez and the official, which took place in a condominium unit in Ortigas a few days later.

In the meeting, the official appealed to Gutierrez’s sense of patriotism by sparing the country the trauma that an impeachment trial would create on the public. “He (the official) sensed that Gutierrez was torn,” the source said, adding that there were those close to former President Gloria Arroyo telling Gutierrez she had a chance of being acquitted at the Senate.

The source said Gutierrez did not make any commitment in that meeting but mentioned the two conditions, which were relayed to Malacañang.

In the morning of April 29, Gutierrez met with President Aquino in Malacañang and tendered her resignation, effective May 6.

In her resignation statement, Gutierrez acknowledged that the President deserved an Ombudsman who had his complete trust and confidence.

“To carry on my battle to cleanse my name before the Senate would detract from the time which could otherwise be devoted to legislative work which would address the needs of millions of Filipino people,” she said.

She expressed the hope that with her resignation, “we can now all focus on the impelling problems of our people rather than expending so much time, effort and resources to remove me from public office.”

The source said Gutierrez was assured the government would not initiate any suit against her. “Hindi gagalaw (It won’t move).”

After his meeting with Gutierrez, Aquino issued a four-paragraph statement announcing her resignation, thanking the House of Representatives and instructing the JBC to start the search for a new Ombudsman.

“Her action has spared the country from a long and divisive impeachment process that would have distracted our lawmakers from dealing with the many problems we face today,” Aquino said.

He added that with a new Ombudsman, “we can now proceed more decisively in making government officials more accountable to their bosses, the Filipino people.”

Sen. Francis Escudero, member of the JBC in his capacity as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said the President has until Aug. 4, 90 days after the vacancy occurred, to choose the new Ombudsman.