By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA
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| Sixth District Board Member Ranjit R. Shahani lashed out the officials of the Pangasinan III Electric Cooperative, Inc. (PANELCO) for an indiscriminate power rate increase without proper consultation with the consumers and declaring its “wrong decision unconstitutional.” |
According to some high police officials in Pangasinan, morale among their ranks especially the chiefs of police (COP) are at its lowest. Why? They have received a memorandum of the “No –Take- Policy” from the police regional office.
“No-Take-Policy” means they could no longer receive their tens of thousands of pesos monthly share from Meridian Gaming Corporation’s Jai-Alai (a number game played like the illegal jueteng).
“OK lang iyong wala kaming natatangap, pero saan napupunta iyong para sa amin?” a high police official asked.
Another brass cited that it was unfair to implement the “No Take Policy” while all concerned police officials all over the country regularly received their payolas.
Another police brass said that many police stations in the province stop the free meals funded from the poor man’s game among its personnel. “Iyong iba,nagagawan pa ng paraan para may libre pagkain ang mga ta-o”.
Oh by the way, why is it that until now the injunction case of Meridian’s Jai-Alai in the Court of Appeals has been dragging already for several years. Injunction case is usually resolved in a few months or most in a year, why the procrastination at the higher court? Paki check Supreme Court, after you sacked Justice Gregory Santos Ong for shenanigans, why it takes that long for the justices to resolve the legal questions on the multi-billion of pesos betting juggernaut.
The pendency of Jai-Alai’s case there means it has a semblance of legality where the police could not apprehend Meridian personnel roving the villages and boondocks to get bets from gullible mostly poor folks whose chances to win are subject to the manipulation of the gambling officials.
***
We just heard lately shocking news on the P400 million back taxes of Pangasinan Electric Cooperative to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and where the BIR Eastern Pangasinan garnished tens of millions of Panelco’s fund at Land Bank of the Philippines – Urdaneta City's branch.
Garnishment, by the way, is a drastic measure for collecting a debt. A court order of garnishment allows a creditor to take the property of a debtor when the debtor does not possess the property.
Son of a gun, what kind of mismanagement and corruption this electric cooperative had messed itself?
Were officials there have been pocketing with impunity the funds of the electric cooperative in the past?
What will happen now to the service it gives to the people of the Eastern Part of the “Pangalatok Land” now that a significant chunk of its funds have been frozen by the LBP? Not to mention the looming dispute for the P 400 million debt it owed the BIR?
When I dropped by last Tuesday at the offices of the regional director in Calasiao, Pangasinan, and the Revenue District Officer in Urdaneta City last Wednesday, the people there were mum.
They do not want to comment on the “fiasco” of Panelco.
“I told the TV guys to go to the (BIR) Commissioner (Kim Henares) and inquire there in Manila for themselves,” Lawyer Nashrollah Conding, the chief of Revenue District Office-6, told me in his office in Urdaneta City
I even told him that even the beauteous Assistant RDO-4 Assistant Chief Charmaine dela Torre would not comment too if Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative has its own Panelco’s version of the mess.
I told the BIR guys that I was familiar with the dilemma of Panelco because eight years ago I was the only media guy in Pangasinan who religiously followed the updates on the more than P300 million business taxes claim of then Labrador Mayor Ernesto Acain versus the Trans Corporation.
“Acain for several successful rounds of garnishment in the different banks in Manila snared P101 Million funds of Napocor that have been deposited there.
Because of those huge amounts, the 3rd class town and one of the poorest in the humongous province found it overwhelmed with lots of projects like iron made waiting sheds, van for each of its villages, and others.
I told Conding the other incompetence of Panelco officials in not distributing their funds to different banks in Pangasinan and not pouring them all in LBP-Urdaneta City despite the threat of garnishment RDO-6 shoved to the faces of the people there.
“O, kaya hayun nayari sila sa milyon-milyon na pera nila,” I said.
Conding still maintain his silence on my compliment with his flourish.
“Kayo lang nakagawa ng ganito dito sa BIR Pangasinan since I became a pen pusher covering all your offices in the region”.
With tens of millions of pesos withheld by the LBP to Panelco, where would Panelco get its expenses for the salaries of its employees, debts to power providers, and others?
****
I was amused when two eloquent legal eagles Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and lawyer JV Bautista clashed at the Senate last Wednesday afternoon.
When Cayetano presented the slides that Vice President Jojo Binay owned SunChamp Agri-Tourism Park as he and wife Dr. Elenita host their visitors there, JV vigorously objected. He said that that any lawyer would know that photos could not incriminate his client.
“They are not admissible in court!” Bautista protested.
“They are admissible,” retorted by Cayetano.
“They are not!” Bautista protested.
“They are..” Cayetano answered.
“We can test that..” Bautista pointing his hand to Cayetano.
Senator Antonio "Sonny" Fuentes Trillanes IV cut Bautista “ Your 15 minutes is over”.
“No, it is not!” Bautista, with all the confidence, protested.
Trillanes, seems exasperated, told JV that he was selfish.
Gee whiz man, was it not a treat? Ha, ha, ha! We have not seen that “circus” on national TV for sometimes.
When Cayetano presented the slides that Vice President Jojo Binay owned SunChamp Agri-Tourism Park as he and wife Dr. Elenita host their visitors there, JV vigorously objected. He said that that any lawyer would know that photos could not incriminate his client.
“They are not admissible in court!” Bautista protested.
“They are admissible,” retorted by Cayetano.
“They are not!” Bautista protested.
“They are..” Cayetano answered.
“We can test that..” Bautista pointing his hand to Cayetano.
Senator Antonio "Sonny" Fuentes Trillanes IV cut Bautista “ Your 15 minutes is over”.
“No, it is not!” Bautista, with all the confidence, protested.
Trillanes, seems exasperated, told JV that he was selfish.
Gee whiz man, was it not a treat? Ha, ha, ha! We have not seen that “circus” on national TV for sometimes.
***
O.K, seriously what I want to point here whether or not the photos can be admissible or not as back up by jurisprudence, was immaterial. For me to the projection of the Vice President to snare more votes on his march to the Palace in 2016 has been damaged.
Son of a gun, the Senate’s investigation, led particularly by the searching and scorching questions of Peter Cayetano, has been gnawing the significant chunks of Binay’s popularity every time the investigation ended its inquiry.
VP Binay, I bet you, is doomed to the fate of presidentiable former Senator Manny Villar when the “kaleidoscopes” of his opponents zero to his malpractices with the government.
“Di ba pinulot si Villar sa kangkungan at si P-Noy ang naging president natin noong 2010?
Sooner Binay would be “pupulutin din sa kangkungan”
By the way, is Cayetano ambivalent to run for the presidency as he is bent to run for the nursery after he talks with his wife, Taguig City Mayor Ma. Laarni, for a baby next year.
Cayetano will be coming in Dagupan City for his Presyo, Trabaho, Kita or PTK Program.
I’ll be asking him why not he asked Binay to debate with him since they are both lawyer and not Senator Trillanes who is a military man.
Binay would chew and spit Trillanes in the debate in terms of the labyrinths of commercial and corporate laws that grips the ill-gotten wealth of the former.
But with Allan Peter, it would be like watching Nicolas Walters beating the shit out of the smaller Nonito Donaire.
Son of a gun, the Senate’s investigation, led particularly by the searching and scorching questions of Peter Cayetano, has been gnawing the significant chunks of Binay’s popularity every time the investigation ended its inquiry.
VP Binay, I bet you, is doomed to the fate of presidentiable former Senator Manny Villar when the “kaleidoscopes” of his opponents zero to his malpractices with the government.
“Di ba pinulot si Villar sa kangkungan at si P-Noy ang naging president natin noong 2010?
Sooner Binay would be “pupulutin din sa kangkungan”
By the way, is Cayetano ambivalent to run for the presidency as he is bent to run for the nursery after he talks with his wife, Taguig City Mayor Ma. Laarni, for a baby next year.
Cayetano will be coming in Dagupan City for his Presyo, Trabaho, Kita or PTK Program.
I’ll be asking him why not he asked Binay to debate with him since they are both lawyer and not Senator Trillanes who is a military man.
Binay would chew and spit Trillanes in the debate in terms of the labyrinths of commercial and corporate laws that grips the ill-gotten wealth of the former.
But with Allan Peter, it would be like watching Nicolas Walters beating the shit out of the smaller Nonito Donaire.
***
VINYL IS BETTER THAN DIGITAL. When I treated in early 2000s with Gilbey's Gins legendary rock band Juan dela Cruz front man Pepe Smith and Dagupan City's rock connoisseur Raffy Caretero (whom I introduced to the former) at our house, they were discussing the quality of vinyl (long playing album or the 45 RPM played on the phonograph) than Compact Disc. I didn't give too much credence on that conversation. Today, I just heard U.S Rock & Roll Legend Neil Young explained when music is played in digital (CD, MP-3, USB) the quality of the music falls 80%. Sannamagan, was that true? 80%? You can hear Neil Young's explanation at 47:35 of his interview with Howard Stern at his radio program early this October. Just click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r10yjyCTcII
(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).
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