The Fury of Sendong

MISAMIS ORIENTAL

THE RAGE OF nature took Mindanao apparently by surprise.

For the first time in its history as a province, Misamis Oriental succumbed to the fury of Sendong that even Mindanao never faced before. It faced storms only at a rate of one every 12 years. And devastation fell mostly at the city of Cagayan De Oro. But deaths also occur in the nearby Iligan City. As of the latest count (December 21), official death toll runs at 1,002 people, 650 coming from Cagayan De Oro City, and 283 from the nearby Iligan City.

American meteorologist, Jeff Masters, considered the tropical stormed, nicknamed internationally as Washi, as the world's deadliest storm in 2011, surpassing Brazil and Thailand in casualties (902 and 657, respectively).

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) noted that Sendong already packed 50 millimeters of rainwater a day before it struck on December 16 (Friday). The amount almost equalled that of Ondoy in 2009, but much deadlier to the lives for many factors still under investigation.

So Much Outpour

Reports indicated that the flood rose to 181 meters only in an hour. Thae flashfloods that unleashed along the riversides caught the victims in a sleep they would no longer wake from.

Aftermath

CDO Archbishop Antonio Ledesma called on President Benigno S. Aquino III to create the River Basin Management Council to implement the River Basin Plan to prevent the present scale of devastation to life and property from happening again.

Sources

Jojo Malig: "'Sendon,' world's deadliest storm in 2011," ABS-CBN News 20 December 2011
______: "Church call for creation of Oro basin management council," SunStar CDO 20 December 2011

Statement of Retired CJ Hilario Davide Jr on Fate of the Truth Commission

Republic of the Philippines

The Philippine Truth Commission of 2010

(Pursuant to Executive Order No. 1)

I am deeply saddened and pained by the Resolution of the Supreme Court denying with finality the Motion to Reconsider its decision declaring unconstitutional Executive Order No. 1 creating the Philippine Truth Commission of 2010.

It perpetuates its patently wrong and erroneous application of the doctrine of equal protection of the law.

The Resolution could cause the loss of my faith, trust and confidence in the Supreme Court which I had faithfully served for nearly fifteen years; more than seven of which as its Chief Justice.

By its decision and resolution the Supreme Court has made itself an instrument to suppress or prevent the discovery of the truth.

The timing of its promulgation— barely 20 hours after the President delivered his State of the Nation Address where he solemnly declared that the fight against graft and corruption is a personal one for himself and for all the Filipinos who are its victims, and announced the appointment of newly retired SC Justice Conchita Carpio Morales as Ombudsman— clearly proves beyond doubt that the Court has become a protector of some people.

It delayed for several months, and only after the retirement of two Justices who wrote strong dissenting opinions, the release of the resolution which was expected anyway.

But the Supreme Court will not succeed.

For the truth will triumph and prevail despite and inspite of the Supreme Court.

The Administration and the new Ombudsman, Justice Carpio Morales will see to it that it will triumph and prevail.

I only pray to God, the Supreme Judge, that He will help the Supreme Court redeem its honor and integrity.

HILARIO G. DAVIDE JR.

Supreme Court Chife Justice (Ret.)

Chairman, Philippine Truth Commission of 2010

Source

Senator Santiago Elected First ICC Judge from Developing Nation

MANILA

SENATOR MIRIAM Santiago has a lot of tricks on her sleeves to stop bringing surprises to the Filipino people. This time she aced contenders for a Judge seat in the International Criminal Court (ICC), making her the first woman judge for ICC who came from a developing nation in Asia.

On 12 December 2011, the ICC overwhelmingly elected Santiaugo in New York as a new Judge for the international court, topping the first round of elections with 79 votes out of 104 valid votes. She bested other 18 candidates from various regions.

Sources

[InterAksyon]

The Ongpin Investigation

MANILA

Former Marcos trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin found himself in hot waters lately after an alleged behest loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) got blown out to the public. The loan was used to buy shares of Philex Mining Corporation, where he used to be its chairman. He is #21 in Forbes' 40 Richest in the Philippines in 2010 with a net worth of $300 million.

The point of investigation centered on the sale of 50 million shares of Philex Mining Corp. that DBP owned. Through DVRI, Ongpin acquired a loan from DBP. Using this loan, another Ongpin company Golden Media purchased the shares from DBP, which it later sold to Twin Rivers of Manuel Pangilinan.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan managed to corner 20.6 percent of Philex shares from other sources on 28 November 2008. With the acquisition of additional shares from DBP, Pangilinan gained control of Philex.

SENATE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEES

Blue Ribbon Committee. Senator Teofisto Guingona III (head)
Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies. Senator Sergio Osmeña III (head)

COMPANIES INVOLVED

Global Air Services (GAS). A British Virgin Islands-based company, GAS only had an authorized capital stock of $2. But despite that normally suspicious financial standing, LBP president Gilda Pico admitted that the two banks extended the $180-million loan on 14 December 2008. This gives away an influential hand involved in the approval of this loan, which overrides the expected caution for discretion.

Delta Ventures Resources Inc. (DVRI). Long-time personal secretary Josephine Manalo admitted before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that she fronts for businessman Roberto V. Ongpin in obtaining loans from two government financial institutions (GFIs), namely the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines. Officially, Manalo owned 24,996 shares of DVRI out of the 25,000 shares available, a virtual single proprietorship. On 12 December 2011, she admitted she assumed ownership of record of the shares obtained from the GFIs as far as SEC records are concerned. However, in fact, all these shares have been endorsed to Ongpin.

Golden Media. A company of Ongpin.

GF INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). Former DBP president Reynaldo David who led the bank when it extended the loans to Ongpin became a member of the board of an Ongpin-led bank, Philippine Bank of Commerce. After testifying before the Senate, he however resigned from the board on December 9.

BEHEST LOAN

INSIDER TRADING

Instead of dumping the DBP shares of Philex Mining to the market, the government-owned bank sold its 50 million shares to a ready buyer in Ongpin at the prevailing market price of P12.75 per share. This comprises 50 percent of DBP holdings in Philex.

In order to purchase these shares, DBP granted Ongpin the first credit accommodation to his DVRI (amounting to P660-million) and Two Rivers of the First Pacific group. This made for DBP a total of P1.397 billion.

Evidence indicated that Ongpin accumulated a block of shares from DBP and others in order to sell it to Pangilinan. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, whose law firm had been involved in the setting up of Philex, said on record that the transaction between Pangilinan and Ogpin to corner the Philex shares from DBP was already a done deal even before the actual sale of shares to Ongpin’s DVRI. The transactions concluded in Shangri-La Hotel in Makati where he shook hands with Pangilinan for the price of P21 before he was able to accumulate and he never shared this information to DBP, and to the other stock holders.

David testified that even Social Security System president Romulo Neri wanted to sell SSS shares in Philex for the same price. Neri knew that Ongpin sold a block of shares at P21. But that’s too late, Ongpin cornered the market using insider information, Enrile said.

Ongpin’s name however did not appear in documents of DVRI submitted to the joint hearing. Instead, it was Josephine Manalo.

Sources

Karl John Reyes: "Ongpin secretary admits fronting for behest loans, Osmeña says," InterAksyon 12 December 2011 [read report]
Christian Mendez: "Insider trading in DBP deal?" The Philippine Star pp. 1, 13, 16

Impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona

MANILA

IT IS FINAL. A total of 188 members of the House of Representative signed today the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The complaint centers on eight articles: (1) betrayal of public trust through a track record of marked of marked partiality and subservience involving the Arroyo administration; (2) culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayed public trust arising from failure to disclose to the public the statement of assets, liabilities, and networth; (3) culpable violation of the Constitution and/or betrayed public trust by failing to prove competence, integrity, probity, and independence; (4) betrayal of public trust and/or culpable violation of the Constitution arising from the disregard of the principle of separation of powers on the issuance of status quote ante order against the House over the impeachment of resigned Ombudsman Gutierrez; (5) culpable violation of the Constitution through wanton arbitrariness and partiality in consistently disregarding the principle of res judicata and deciding in favor of gerry-mandering in the cases of 16 newly-created citiies and the promotion of Dinagat into a province; (6) betrayal of public trust by arrogating the authority and jurisdiction of the House in investigating an alleged erring member of the Supreme Court; (7) betrayal of public trust through partiality in granting a TRO in favor of FPGMA, and distorting the SC decision on the effectivity of the TRO, and; (8) betrayal of public trust and/or commission of graft and corruption over failure and refusal to account for the judiciary development fund (JDF) and special allowance for the judiciary (SAJ) collections.

While pro-Arroyo supporters may view this exercise as an assault to the integrity of the Supreme Court, most Filipinos view this as a healthy democracy at work where the House performed its Constitution-mandated role in putting a check on the performance of the other two independent branches of government: the Executive and the Judiciary. And the Congressmen who supported this move deserve a strong applause for doing something to resolve the growing problem in the Supreme Court.

Related Documents

Summary of the Impeachment Complain v. Chief Justice Corona

Verified Complaint for Impeachment v. Chief Justice Corona

ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT

Article II: Non-Disclosure of, and of properties in, SALN

Bonifacio Ridge Property
Fully paid on April 2004 with total payments of P9.3 million
Disclosed in Corona 2009 SALN with value of P2.3 million
Undisclosed value = P7 million [Read Report]

The Bellagio Tower I Property
Fully paid in 2009 with total payments of P9.5 million
Not disclosed in Corona 2009 SALN [Read Report]


PS Bank Accounts
On 12 December 2011, the day the House of Representatives voted to impeach Corona, closure in three of his time deposit accounts closed through a credit memoranda representing a total amount of P 37 million--P7,397,566.36; P12,988,951.36; and, P17,270,654.97. And this amount was transferred into a newly opened checking account. [Read Report]


DEVELOPMENTS

The lawyers of Chief Justice Corona sought Supreme Court for TRO on the Impeachment Court order to banks to submit Corona account documents [Philippine Daily Inquirer 8 February 2012]
On Day 6 of the Impeachment Trial the discrepancy between the SALNs of Corona and his annual income becomes apparent. For an income of P600,000 annually, his net worth grew more than a million pesos. And in 2010, his net worth jumped by more than P10 million. [InterAksyon 26 January 2012]
Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile nixed Corona team's bid for pretrial. [Philippine Daily Inquirer 13 January 2012]
Senator Josed Estrada find some Corona SALN unusual. SALN 2002-2004 and 2008-2011 were electronically imprinted, and received by a "Juliet." While the SALN 2005-2007 were manually imprinted, and received by a "Berna." [Philippine Daily Inquirer]

Sources

Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, "Latest updates from Congress: 178 solons sign to impeach Corona; 'It's all over but the shouting'" Interaksyon 12 December 2011 [read report]

Former President GMA Faces Corruption Raps

MANILA

FORMER PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (FPGMA) became the second president who will formally face a day in court for alleged corruption during their administration. The first president to experience this was former President Joseph Ejercity Estrada, ironically under the administration of FPGMA.

The cases filed to-date (from the latest to the earliest) are as follow:

Plunder of P391.9 million in PCSO funds [Second Case]

Filed by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on 7 December 2011

Electoral sabotage in Maguindanao during the 2007 senatorial election [First Case]

Filed by the Commission on Election on 18 November 2011

[READ DETAILS]