P2.4-B Chinese Shabu Dealer Uses Subd. Owned by P’nan Politician

  By Mortz C. Ortigoza

After the narcos in the Philippines trembled, cowed, and absconded because of the brutal drug wars launched to them by then President Rodrigo Duterte in his term where thousands of them died, big time Mainland Chinese narcotic dealers are coming with their nefarious trade under the Administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos who these malefactors think would be soft by not murdering them.

Yesterday, a police source told me about a mammoth raid by various operatives of the country in a subdivision owned by a politician in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan.

Philippine police and drug enforcement officers set up a display of more than a half ton of crystal methamphetamine confiscated following an operation in which four Chinese nationals were killed in Zambales province, Sept. 7, 2021. Photo Credit: Benarnews.org

He said that law enforcers seized 360 kilograms of shabu (crystal methamphetamine or meth for brevity) with estimated Dangerous Drugs Board's value of P2.448 billion (other news reports said it was 400 kgs worth P2.72-B) and arrested Ke Wujia - a Chinese National, 49 years old, and a resident of San Vicente Sur, Agoo, La Union -;  Johnbert Yagong - 22 years old - ; 3. Jenson Rey Yago - 29 years old, a resident of Napaturan, Brgy. Codcod, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental - ; and 4. Ritchell Repuesto - 28 years old, a resident of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

The situs of their illegal trade was in the Blue House Subdivision located along Torqouise St. Sunshine Village, Brgy. Banding, Pozzorubio, Pangasinan.

I saw on the television the presence there of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) top honchos led by Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva, Deputy Director Greg Pimentel – a former Police Region-1 Director -, and my kasimanwa - Intelligence and Investigation Service Director Adrian G. Alvariño -  who guffawed on the antics I posted at Facebook and the pride of PDEA because of his feats -, members of the Philippine Navy, and the cops in Region-1.

Pimental (a PMYer like Villanueva and Alvariño) told GMA-7 news that the billions of pesos’ narcs were intended to Regions 2, 3, and the Western Visayas.

Madali makuha yung mga supply dito kasi nasa dalampasigan lang ang Region 1 (It is easier to transport supply here since Region 1 (Ilocos Region) is a coastal area," he said.

The malefactors would then repack the illegal drugs in Pozorrubio town, and send it to customers outside Pangasinan through a technique called dead-drop, he added.

As their modus operandi, the suspects would purchase used cars and leave them at the designated area, with the narcs inside the car, hidden inside junk food products that were covered by blankets.

The buy-bust operation was initially for five kilos of shabu worth P5 million but the law enforcers uncovered more blocks of suspected meth bundled in 18 sacks marked with Chinese tea Guanyiwang.

The raid resulted to the following seizures: 360 Kgs of shabu worth P2.448B; two cellphones (android); one analog phone; various identification cards ; various  documents; and Php P5 Million boodle money.

Top brass of the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) answer questions from the media after the the narcotics raid in Pozzurubio, Pangasinan. Photo Credit:Intelligence and Investigation Service Director Adrian G. Alvariño

 The busted bad guys together with the confiscated illegal drugs are now under the custody of PDEA for proper disposition. Case for Violation of Sections 5 and 11, Art. II of RA 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act) are being prepared for filing in court against them.

Selling of narcs in the Philippines is a non-bailable felony.

***

Here were the poser and statement to me by my source - a decorated police official:

1)      Kapag gagawa ka ng illegal, see to it that you have the right connection and knowledge of the ground to have the confidence na mag-prosper ang illegal activity mo. Who gave them the confidence to utilize that property in Pozzurobio?

2)      Mala “exclusive” iyong subdivision. Guarded at kailangan ang clearance (to those who want to enter – MCO) sa subdivision owner – the Politician.

 

 

Farmers are Poor Due to Manipulative Traders, Importers – NIA Boss

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan - The reasons why Filipino farmers are poor because palay or unhusked rice are sold cheaply to traders who manipulate their prices and imported cheap staple floods the market unabated, according to National Irrigation Administration Region-1 Manager Gaudencio “Dennis” de Vera.

“Pag nagbenta sila aabot ng P14 e kung ang production cost mga P7 or P10 ang liit ng ginansiya, di ba?” he cited.

Photo of Filipino farmer is internet grabbed.

The penury of the Filipinos is aggravated with the influx of imported cheap rice that competes with the produce of the local farmers.

“Siyempre pag importation mas mura ang bigas. Siyempre mapipilitan na ibenta ng mura ang production nila,” De Vera explained why the Filipino farmers are susceptible to lower their prices because of the cheap imported staple.

In March 5, 2019 then President Rodrigo Duterte signed into statute the rice liberalization law known as Republic Act (RA) No. 11203 or Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

 The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.  however was not prioritizing the review of the RTL, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said, noting it has been effective in controlling inflation.

“I think revisiting the Rice Tariffication Law is not a priority of this government,” Diokno said as he noticed “that it (RTL) was not mentioned in the first State of the Nation Adress (SONA) of the President last July 25 this year.

AMO fertilizer founder lawyer Eric Acuña said however that the seaweed based organic fertilizer is the silver bullet to stop the rampages of cheap Vietnam rice in the Philippines.

He explained that if the cost of production (COP) of the Vietnam rice is P6.00 per kilo versus the Philippines’ P12. 41 a kilo he can compete with a P4.53 a kilo by using his plant BRIX growth enhancer technology.

“The cost of production of Vietnam is P6.00, tariff imposed by the Philippines government on that price is 35% or P2.10 a kilo, freight cost is P1.00, and importer’s profit is P1.00,” he cited the landed cost of P10 a kilo.

He said that with AMO organic fertilizer applied to a hectare of a rice farm, a kilo of the local palay will cost P4.53 that could threaten the Vietnam staple.

“Habol natin is for everybody to try. We are willing to conduct free farm trial, “ Acuña  who impressed several sectors like National Tobacco Administration after he gave them a free experiment, stressed.

To mitigate the deplorable plights of the Filipino farmers and hog raisers, NIA Regional Manager De Vera said the government should identify the provinces with abundant harvest not only of palay and onions but pork where their imported counterpart products compete unfairly with them. He said these products should be banned to proliferate in these provinces.

 

 

 

Bet has More Money on Vote Buying than GDP of Entire Region

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of each of the many regions in the Philippines has been eclipsed by the money spent through vote buying by a mayoral bet in Region 1.

GDP is total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.

Since we are talking about a region here and not a nation or state, we call the financial gauge as Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).

If this mayoral bet spent more or less half-a-billion pesos or P4,000 by buying each of the almost a hundred thousand of voters to win a seat that gives only P188, 187 a month (Salary Grade 30) or P7,339, 293 in the three years’ term – including the three years of 13^th month pay -, many regions in the country could hardly chalk up a half-a-billion pesos GDP in a year.

As I rummaged the data on the GDP of each of the 17 regions through the figures of the Philippines Statistics Authority (Regional Accounts of the Philippines Unit in Thousands of Philippines Pesos as of April 2022), the three selected regions in the country with less than half-a-billion pesos GRDP each or lower with the wherewithal of that billionaire mayoral bet. They are the following:

REGION		ANNUAL 2021

 

Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)                   P399, 981, 012

Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)                    450, 089, 271

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region

 in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)              284, 656, 980

 

Curious how the state of the four provinces’ Region-1 fare with the other 16 Regions in the country, I searched the gross domestic products (GDP) of Regions 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A (Calabarzon), 6 (Central Visayas), 11 (Davao Region), and the National Capital Region.

After seeing the hundreds of millions if not billions of pesos the people in these regions earn through quarrying, mining, construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing transportation, manufacturing, storages, and others, I checked too how these regions earn on the special economic zones they hosted.

Among the 17 Regions in the country, the top five in GDP in 2021 were the following:

== = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

                        RANK                             GDP 2021

1)      National Capital Region:           P6,157, 784,762

2)      CALABARZON (Region-4-A):     P2,785, 911,990

3)      Central Luzon (Region-3):        P2,061, 962,928

4)      Central Visayas (Region- 6):     P1,237, 626,585

5)      Davao Region (Region-11):      P    967, 227, 645

6)      Ilocos Region (Region-1)          P   643, 928, 511

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

The National Capital Region topped the GDP race because it is the region where the central business activities of the country are based. It hosted a burgeoning 14,406,059 population (2022  Worldpopulationreview.com) out of the total demography of the country of 113.80 Million for this year.

Economic Zones

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported in their January to December 2021 data of performance with US$ 63.061 billion (P3.50 trillion) of export income and a total of 1,782,913 million workers in its registered-ecozones.

Products the Philippines exported in this year were electrical, machinery, computers, copper, optical, fruits, nuts, and others.

Here is the breakdown how the five regions above generated billions of pesos from January to October 2021 on the special economic zones they hosted:

==================================================

REGION                   EXPORT EARNINGS (In billions of pesos)

1)      Region 4-A                          P 22. 401 Billion

2)      NCR                                      21.251

3)      Region 1                                 5. 566

4)      Region 3                                 3. 672

5)      Region 6                                 3. 651

6)      Region 11                               2.094

 Geez, when I saw the lethargic number of vehicles plying to and from the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) and saw minuscule number of billboards like the Thunderbird Resorts and Casinos in Poro Point, La Union and the surfing capital of the Northern Philippines in San Juan, La Union compared to the giant signage that dotted the stretches along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and burgeoning number of cars racing vice versa, I thought there are more monies that circulate in the Central Luzon Region compared to my Ilocos Region or the four provinces’ Region-1. 

But it's Res Ipsa Loquitur (the thing speak for itself) on the P5.566 billion of Region-1 that dominated in January to October 2021 the P3.672 billion of Region 3.

(Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)

 

 

Basista Prepares for her 61st Anniversary

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BASISTA, Pangasinan – The young mayor of this local government unit (LGU) met for the second time his vice mayor, department heads, chief of police, and other officials to map out for the forthcoming 61st anniversary of the central Pangasinan’s town on September 6.

“Upang talakayin at mapaghandaan ang mga aktibidad para sa nalalapit na Ika-61 anibersaryo ng pagkatatag ng munisipyo, “ the Facebook Page of Mayor Jolly Roque “JR” Resuello announced.

BASISTA MAYOR Jolly Roque “JR” Resuello presides the second round of the meeting with his vice mayor, department heads, chief of police, and other officials of the local government unit to map out the forthcoming 61st anniversary of the central Pangasinan’s town on September 6.

Basista was founded in September 5, 1961 when President Carlos P. Garcia issued Executive Order No. 446 creating the rustic municipality. It is composed of 13 barrios. Four years after, however, the Philippine Supreme Court declared the town's creation as without legal basis citing their ruling in the "Emmanuel Pelaez vs. Auditor General "that "municipalities created under Executive Orders are void".
But the District's Congressman Jack L. Soriano immediately filed a bill in Congress and was eventually signed by the President into law through Republic Act No. 4866 that minted it as a de jure local government unit after it was chartered in May 8, 1967.
The former village of the then town’s San Carlos, now the site of the town proper or poblacion, was once the biggest and one of the progressive barrios located in the far south of the mother town (now a city).
According to Wikipedia, as early as the year 1918, some of the most influential and prominent families of barrio Basista came together and made the first attempt to petition the municipal government and the provincial board of San Carlos and Pangasinan, respectively, to grant its township.
Prominent politicians during that time volunteered their help in making representations with the proper authorities, but their request was not granted. The proponents then were General Mamaril, Don Valeriano Perez, father of then speaker Eugenio Pérez, Buenaventura de Vera, Telesforo de Vera, Gregorio Malicdem, Cayetano Perez, Gaudencio Padua, Gregorio Valdez, Ramon Valdez, Don Roque de Vera, Domingo Resultay, Bernardo Resultay, Liberato Frias, Hipolito Cayabyab, Alejandro de Guzman, Pascual Resultay, Raymundo de Guzman, Vicente de Guzman, Domingo de Guzman, Vicente Frias, Florentino Malicdem, Faustino Monzon.
The 2020 census said Basista has a population of 37, 679.
The two –term’s Mayor Resuello told Northern Watch Newspaper that the 4th class town has an annual appropriation budget of P P167, 673, 690.00 this year.

Lingayen Mourns Illustrious Son’s FVR

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The Philippines flag is in a half-mast as the residents of this capital town and the birthplace of the late President Fidel Valdez Ramos mourn his death.

“Pagdating ko dito sa munisipyo during our flag raising ceremony at 7 o’clock we raised the flag at its fullest and after the pambansang awit we lowered in a very solemn manner ang national flag to half mast,” Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil said yesterday in a radio interview.

TWELFTH PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES Fidel Valdez Ramos (extreme left, photo) and Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil (extreme right) pose for posterity in a social function the duo attended. Ramos died of multiple-organic failure in July 31 this year. Both the President and the Mayor are retired police generals.  Photo is internet grabbed

Ramos who was the 12^th President of the Republic joined his Creator last July 31. He is affectionately called by his constituents as FVR - from the abbreviation of his full names.

Bataoil – who became Ramos subordinate when he was the country’s chief of staff - visited early on that fateful day the Lingayen Central School where the late president attended grades 1 to 7.

“Pinicturan namin iyong metal inscription historical marker pinost natin sa Facebook para malaman ng taong bayan: Lingayen is in the forefront in the life of the 12^th President of the Republic”.

The second - term Bataoil said that the late President has his ancestral house that is preserved by the National Historical Commission. The illustrious family, he added, used to stay in the abode when the young Ramos studied in the public elementary school while his parents taught here.

His father was a lawyer whose law office is in this capital town.

 Ramos began his secondary education at the University of the Philippines High School in the City of Manila and continued it at the Mapúa Institute of Technology. He graduated in high school from the Centro Escolar University Integrated School in 1945 Afterwards, he went to the United States for an appointment to the United States Military Academy, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Military Engineering degree in 1950. He also earned his master's degree in civil engineering at the University of Illinois and later took Civil Engineering Board Exam in 1953 where he placed No. 8 in the country.

 “He is my idol. I followed his footsteps I became a lieutenant after I graduated from PMA (Philippine Military Academy),” the former Congressman said about Ramos who became the Chief of the Philippine Constabulary and later Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Because of his awe with Ramos, Bataoil volunteered to be assigned at the office of the personnel and later as the chief of training in the general headquarter at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“Nakita ko kung papaano siya manungkulan in his very professional and dignified manner. From then on in my life as a professional officer ng public servant ay nandiyan pa rin iyong bahid na pagsunod sa kind of leadership (niya),” the Mayor, who retired as a three-star police general, described the former President when he was alive.

During the presidential stint of Ramos in 1992 to 1998 he vigorously jacked up the economy of the Philippines dubbed as the Sick Man of Asia by respected foreign news outfits.

Before attaining the significant economic growth of the country, he fostered first a national reconciliation that led to major peace agreements with Muslim separatists, communist insurgents and military rebels. These actuations renewed investor confidence in the Philippine economy.

 He then pushed for the deregulation of key industries and the liberalization of the economy like telecommunication and airlines. Ramos encouraged the privatization of public entities to include the modernization of public infrastructure like power plants through the expanded Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law.

 In years 1993-1997, the Philippine economy recovered dramatically. Gross National Product averaged 5 percent annually, the total inflow of foreign exchange into the country outpaced that of the combined periods of rule of both Presidents Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. and Corazon C. Aquino, and the average income of the Filipino family grew more during Ramos’ Administration than in the preceding two decades.

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

Q&A: China Cannot be an Aggressor Forever - FVR

LTO Applicants in San Carlos City Swell

 LASER ENGRAVER AND PETC IN BAYAMBANG GO PFFT

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – Applicants for driving licenses and emission testing certificates swelled in this city after the laser engraver bogged down and the two private emission testing center (PETC) closed in the neighboring Bayambang town.

San Carlos City’s Land Transportation Office Chief Aileen O. Peteros said that the LTO in Bayambang offers only renewal of licenses because the two PETCs closed down because their franchise with the government expired.

Applicants for driving and renewal of licenses in a Land Transportation Office in the Philippines.

This city has one operational PETC that attracted clients from the five towns and one city’s 3^rd District of Pangasinan.

“Sa San Carlos isa na lang doon. License transaction in LTO Bayambang is currently unavailable kasi sira iyong laser engraver nila iyong tao nada-divert papunta dito,” Peteros, whose previous assignments were LTO Chiefs of Agoo, La Union and Lingayen, Pangasinan, told Northern Watch Newspaper.

The PETCs in Pangasinan and the country are gradually closing because of the presence of the Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (PMVIC).

“Sarado na dahil existing na ang PMVIC in Urdaneta,” she cited about the presence of the emission testing center in Urdaneta City.

PMVICs are privately-owned automated vehicle inspection facilities that will not only check the vehicle's compliance in the Philippines with emission standards but will also test for roadworthiness prior to the renewal of its registration.

The other PMVIC where the vehicles’ owners can go and subject their trucks, cars, or motorcycles are in the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos.

The operation of PMVICs was not suspended according to other news reports.  Vehicle owners are still free to choose if they want PMVIC or PETC to inspect their vehicle before registering.

PMVIC owners headed by Vehicle Inspection Center Operators Association of the Philippines (VICOAP) President Iñigo Larrazabal lowered the testing fees to P600 for light vehicles; P500 for motorcycles; and P300 for public utility jeepneys.

Peteros said the biggest LTO offices in Pangasinan are in Urdaneta City and Dagupan City.

The other offices are in San Carlos City, Alaminos City, Bayambang, Rosales, Lingayen, and others.

FVR Irks by Benguet's Guv Long Speech

(Reprinted)

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

The event was the unveiling of the marker dedicated to former President Fidel V. Ramos, and the launching of the first San Roque reservoir boat at the San Roque Power Corporation in San Manuel, Pangasinan.

It was an event treated by a five-minute speech (as dictated by the event’s program we called "protocol") to each high roller government officials like Japan Ambassador Toshinao Urabe; Mr. Froilan A. Tampingco, President, National Power Corporation; Ryukichi Kawaguchi, President & CEO, SRPC; Pangasinan Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. , Benguet Governor Nestor. B. Fongwan, and other luminaries.

But the rule did not apply sui generis to the main guest the cigar chomping former President Ramos, known as FVR , who had been given a 15 minute allowance for his peroration.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos

He wowed the crowd after he gave his signature EDSA Revolution’s jump after he was introduced by SRPC’s vice president for corporate affairs and renowned master of ceremony Tom Valdez.

But FVR's bravado was doused by Governor Fongwan after the latter gnawed not only the 15 minutes allocation for the latter but even those five minute’s allotment given to the other VIP guests. Fongwan’s “kilometric” speech was probably written by scintillating Ilokoslokavia saluyot nonpareil columnist Max Soliven hahaha!

With his Civil Law's prowess, the Igorot Guv's dissected the nuts and bolts of the shares of Real Property Tax and the Special Education Fund from the earning his province Benguet gets from the SRPC that were reduced from 2 % to 1.1%. He assailed how his province and his town Itogon are shortchanged in the distribution of revenues from the SRPC, and other grievances he showboated through his legal prowess.

I heard he ain't even a lawyer but probably an LL.B holder sans the Bar examination.

This irked President Ramos who impatiently and incessantly biting his cigar and eventually stood up and went to the seat of Benguet Vice Governor Crescencio C. Pacalso by telling him in Ilocano like “napudot ditoyon (it's hot here)" and commanded him like what U.S General George Patton did to his Colonels before launching them to Normandy to stop Fongwan’s chatterbox.

Everybody at the back seats laughed when the former president gestured by cutting his (FVR) throat to the amusement of the members of the provincial board of Benguet and other spectators.

FVR then went to have some niceties in Ilocanos with some folks at the back while the unwitting Governor Fongwan continued his sentiments and encomium.

The raucous continued when FVR came to my seat when I asked him when I would give him my news article in relation with my recent interview with him. Instead he extended his right hand and hand locked it by asking me to counter his gripped.

“You already know, Sir, I could not beat you ever since we had hand locked before,” I whispered to him as the crowd no longer looked at Governor Fongwan, who still delivered his legally loaded piece, but to our direction.

“Kahit si Manny Pacquaio surrender dito (Even Manny Pacquiao (world class boxing champion) gave up on this hand locked),” Ramos told me.

FVR then asked his close-in bodyguard to get my folder that included my article with him and my latest Q & A with former speaker Jose de Venecia on the South China Sea (See too in the next issue of this blog my Q & A with Ramos).

Thereafter the Benguet Governor, who probably sensed the demeanor of the former Commander-in-Chief to him, has returned to his seat.

When it was Ramos turn to speak, he said he would only speak in five minutes because Governor Fongwan consumed his 15 minutes allocation (crowd guffawed again). But it did not stop FVR to go 20 minutes impromptu.

He dramatically threw at the gusty San Roque wind all the three sheets of folded papers he took from his front pants’ pocket by telling the crowd he no longer need them because it would consume more time at the expense of the crowd who endured in the noontime scorching sun.

What amazed everybody about the former alumnus of West Point during the entirety of his speech?

He, clad in a long sleeve barong, spoke outside the mammoth sunbrella unmindful of the blistering noontime heat.

This made FVR a cut from the rest.

All the preceding speakers spoke under the comfort of the sunbrella. Despite the scorching sun he continued to crack jokes, reminisced how as the then incumbent president of the land he helped conceive the SRPC, and the significance of the hydro-power plant to the need of the country that reeled in the debilitating power crises then.

The chivalry made FVR a soldier's soldier.

I saw these awe in the eyes of retired and active generals, officers, and enlisted men who were there. This made him an Erwin Rommel and a Charlie Chaplain mixed into one and reincarnated susmariosep like when he treated the hoi-polloi about the great giant tilapias and the shark’s story him and former Speaker de Venecia cultured at the reservoir of SRMP.

"When I was President Joe de Venecia narrated to me how big by gesturing the size of the mature shark to those fingerling of tilapias we threw years ago at the reservoir. You know Joe loved to exaggerate. Sabi ko naman sing laki na iyan ng pating e mas maliit naman iyong giant tilapia".

FVR brought the house down, son of a gun, with that anecdote!

(You can read my selected intriguing but thought-provoking columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com).