Run, Deniece Cornejo, Run !

By MORTZ MARCELO ORTIGOZA

I beg to disagree with some quarters at social media Face Book that the Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo-Cedric Lee's brouhaha is a topic best left to the wives of fishermen.  The charges and counter charges hurled at the media by the two camps are mental calisthenics among us spectators. 

Deniece Millet Cornejo

We analyze the incredible (Deniece's attempted rape to rape version) and the credible (time where Navarro entered the condominium floor of Deniece (10:38 pm) and Deniece exiting from the same floor (10:39 pm) as shown by the Condo's camera located in and outside the elevator.

 Jesus Christ, where's the consummated rape? Kaya hindi lang pang tsismis itong scandal. Pang academics rin ito he he dahil mi halong non- bailable case dito gaya ng extortion sa illegal detention or kidnapping.

For arguendo, here’s my pose: Will the prosecutor that handles the case of Vhong finds probable cause (for the tricycle drivers out there who read this column, it means“reasonable ground”) that Cedric, Deniece, et al conspired in the crime of the non-bailable case of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

According to Article 267 paragraph 3 of the Revised Penal Code, kidnapping and serious illegal detention is if any serious physical injuries shall have been inflicted upon the person kidnapped or detained, or if threats to kill him shall have been made. 
"The penalty shall be reclusion perpetua (life) to death where the kidnapping or detention was committed for the purpose of extorting ransom from the victim or any other person, even if none of the circumstances above mentioned were present in the commission of the offense."

Have you seen the Paquito Diaz face of Vhong transformed to that of Max Alvaro because of the volley of punches, kicks, you name it that landed to it? Did Vhong say that Cedric and company threatened to kill him and his family if he would not shell out a million pesos for his liberty?

Criminal cases like this are being sensationalized too in the United States. If you have cable TV and you watch Fox TV you know what I’m talkin’!

***

Now for that social media  pet peeve the sultry Deniece Cornejo, if the judge of the Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest against her and her fellow conspirators in the illegal detention and kidnapping, does it mean it’s now time to abscond, er, run, and run faster for the pretty faced villain Deniece?

Being thrown in the calaboose (psst, we call it prison cell) means, you would be staying there for up to three years without bail as the court hears your case whether you committed the crime or you ain’t.

***

Would the prohibition of the slaughtering of female carabao in Pangasinan undermines the Pigar-Pigar Industry of Dagupan City and the town of Mangaldan?

The sumptuous Pigar-Pigar in Dagupan City

There was a saying that one has not set foot in Pangasinan and Dagupan City particularly if he has not buried his teeth on that delectable heaven smelling deep-fried carabao beef being sold at the array of concrete and makeshift restaurants along Galvan Street in the city at dusk and at the wee hours.

This gastronomic delight made of fresh carabao beef and liver that are cut into thin strips, mixed with sitsaro, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, etc, onion sliced into rings, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and lots of cooking oil  and down especially with San Miguel Lights become famous outside Dagupan and internationally.

 Every time my brother, who hailed from Sacramento, California, landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport II in Manila, it was his “protocol” to drop by at the Pigar-Pigar’s Food Strip in Dagupan City before he goes to our birth place Baguio City.

“Mananam ito! Ang sarap naman nito,” friends in Manila and Mindanao quipped after they dipped for the first time the Pigar in the fried animal vile with pepper labuyo and boiled rice.

***

With penalty that say the slay and slaughter of quality carabaos without the required documents is considered as punishable acts with corresponding penalties which include reprimand and revocation or cancellation of license to transport livestock passed by the provincial board and signed into law by Governor Amado T. Espino, can we now say “wither Pigar-Pigar Industry?” Or would the stakeholders of the gastronomic marvel just innovate and “import” the water buffalo meat from other provinces.

***

Lately, I have this academic discussion with Luvin Candari, politicaI pundit in the rambunctious island of Mindanao, at  Face Book about the recent column of Butch del Castillo entitled “Low FDI inflows: is it our bad image?” at the Business Mirror. Excerpts: “The Aquino administration has crowed about the 185-percent jump in foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country from 2011 to 2012. But it was really no big deal. It was talking of only $2.8 billion worth of FDI, which means the base figure of the previous year was barely $1 billion, thus, the big quantum jump. At $2.8 billion—compared with Singapore’s $56.7 billion or Indonesia’s $20 billion—our share of FDI was probably the most miserable in the Southeast Asian region.  In 2013 the country fared better with a net FDI inflow of $3.1 billion in the first three quarters alone. Still, that’s slim pickings in a region where total FDI was estimated at $121 billion. We might as well face it: Foreign investors are not exactly jostling one another and banging at our door to get in”.

Luvin opined: “If I am an investor, I would choose a country with clear policy and stable environment. I won't invest in country which changes its policy according to the whims and caprices of the new President. I won't invest in a country where it is very difficult to even register my business. I won't invest in a country where there are hundreds of signatures needed before I can start any meaningful operation. I would invest in a country where my investment has better chance of making reasonable income in the future. Where does Philippines stand?

Luvin’s dig to the pathetic FDI inflows in the Philippines was a reaction to Buth’s thesis:” "Among the current outstanding examples I can cite are the three-years-in-the-making Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) project and the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS), or the single-ticketing project for the Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit. Both were among the first multimillion-dollar projects to be auctioned off under the PPP Program, which was launched three years ago.
It took a while before the National Economic and Development Authority could give the go-signal to both projects. But when it finally came, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) lost no time in holding the bidding and determining the winning bids in November 2013"

I told him that I disagree with the arguments of Butch that our failure to snare FDI were the result of the aforecited. “Our pathetic numbers of foreign direct investors was the result of my old argument of the 60-40% xenophobic provision in the Constitution that sided with shallow pocketed Filipino businessmen. Our neighbors have been drawing deep pocketed investors with their come-on of 100% foreign ownership for a certain industry. Of course these countries have better infrastructures like highways, ports, cheap electricity, etc that help draw investors. But all of these infras happened with the help of foreign investors thru Public Private Partnership,”I stressed.

Candari, a chemical engineer who was trained in Japan, agreed with me that the culprit for the sluggish growth of the Philippine economy is the 60-40 business equation.

“They (foreigners) could not even buy land to install their business. Who would be in their right mind to build multi-billion pesos or dollars of plants and factories if they could not owned the land. Some of them poured their monies to build their factories sans the land but they are motley,” he explained to me in Ilonggo dialect –  lininti-an , the language in Heaven!

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).