The current impasse between the PCSO Board and the Office of the ES is meant to benefit Vice President Jejomar Binay who has been grooming his own senatorial slate under his United Nationalists Alliance. From all indications, the Executive Secretary has aligned himself with Binay as insurance for political longevity way beyond 2016.
The ES is a name partner of Marcos Ochoa Serapio and Tan. It is not quite hard to understand that when one occupies a sensitive position in Malacanang, history tells us that by the process of osmosis, the sycophant assumes a greater destiny than his principal.
Thus, the trek towards at least to 2022. We have seen this phenomenon when the Firm famously bet on opposing presidential rivals. Nothing goes wrong with this strategy: it spells retention or traction within the power environment. By stroke of miscalculation, the Firm began manoeuvring the spouses Arroyo. The husband, whose greed is unbelievably unfathomable, got wind of the agenda. He realized that the Firm has embarked on perpetual battery life by cornering appointments in the judiciary.
Now, MOST is into it. Bongbong Marcos is a potential presidential bet. His vote of conviction of CJ Corona was drafted by his wife’s law firm aside from the script read by the House prosecutors. It was the MOST who orchestrated the impeachment trial. Nobody raised his hackles because after all the scion of Ferdinand Marcos voted for acquittal.
The Case of Quezon Province.
Quezon Province is presently ruled by the family of Congressman Danilo Suarez. The old man is the congressman of the 3rd district while the son, David Jay Jay, is the provincial governor. The latter defeated the late Raffy Nantes who was then the national treasurer of the LP. It is no secret how the Suarezes snagged the 2010 elections from Nantes who died in a helicopter crash soon after in May 2010.
Right now, the old man Suarez is foist to running as governor in 2013 as his three-term limit is soon expiring while the son is instructed to finagle the congressional seat at the 3rddistrict.
It is public knowledge how much the father and son get from the current Small Town Lottery franchisee Pirouette Gaming Corporation owned and operated by Mrs. Charing Lee Magbuhos[1]: P7M for the young governor and P3M for his father. The amount asked is staggering as there is no comparable retainer being given to other provincial local chief executives in CALABARZON area.
In other words, what the Suarezes receive from STL or jueteng alone is enough to decimate any potential LP local bets in 2013 since the father and son are poised to receive at least P100M from STL or its counterpart, jueteng, from today up to May, 2013.
We are only talking of jueteng source and not the P1.5B counterpart fund released by the budget department in lieu of the local property tax awarded by the Supreme Court to Quezon Province in NATIONAL POWER CORPORATION vs. PROVINCE OF QUEZON and MUNICIPALITY OF PAGBILAO[2].
The question to be asked is how can the local Quezon LP go toe to toe with the well-oiled machinery of the Suarezes? From the looks of it they have the blessing of the ES. The old man Suarez has already made it all known in Quezon that he has already jumped ship with PDP-Laban or United Nationalists Alliance organized by the President’s allies Erap and VP Jejomar Binay. Cong. Suarez is in alliance with Binay supporter and cumpadre, Lucena Mayor Ramon Talaga. With the ES in parallel with the political agenda of Binay, et al. where does the LP find comfort and succour in the matter of logistics in the upcoming midterm elections? Binay, et al. has to overwhelm any political group this early to stake its claim in the presidential contest in 2016. Erap is a genius in fund raising. Paraphrasing Mark Twain, he says that in politics “the lack of money is the root of all evil.”
The PCSO Loterya ng Bayan is the best exhibit of the ES flexing its muscle. His department is all set up to dismantling what the PCSO notwithstanding its vaunted expertise[3] on the subject has put up to recall the STL which is being operated by the collaborators of the former president GMA. There is nothing wrong with that if there is an unwritten policy of “to each his own” in political preference so long as there is no natural antagonism between the group being propped up on the one hand and the President on the other.
What appears incongruous is when an avowed political party of the President which is true to his vision of governance is being undermined by a close associate who has an enviable access to the ears of the President.
Multiplied with the rest of the country, all local LP leaders are logistics deprived. It is not hard to understand why one Jejomar Binay is into fits of paroxysm whenever he’s addressed as Your Excellency.
[1] Due to failing health of Mrs. Magbuhos, Pirouette Gaming Corporation is now being actively operated by one Eddie “Bangus” Gonzalez, a relative of the wife of Governor David Suarez.
[2] G.R. No. 171586, January 25, 2010 where the High Court ruled: “Given the special nature of a BOT agreement as discussed in the cited case, we find Article 1503 inapplicable to define the contract between Napocor and Mirant, as it refers only to ordinary contracts of sale. We thus declared in Tatad v. Garcia13 that under BOT agreements, the private corporations/investors are the owners of the facility or machinery concerned. Apparently, even Napocor and Mirant recognize this principle; Article 2.12 of their BOT Agreement provides that “until the Transfer Date, [Mirant] shall, directly or indirectly, own the Power Station and all the fixtures, fitting, machinery and equipment on the Site x x x. [Mirant] shall operate, manage, and maintain the Power Station for the purpose of converting fuel of Napocor into electricity.””
[3] The argument that only courts of justice can adjudicate claims resoluble under the provisions of the Civil Code is out of step with the fast-changing times. There are hundreds of administrative bodies now performing this function by virtue of a valid authorization from the legislature. This quasi-judicial function, as it is called, is exercised by them as an incident of the principal power entrusted to them of regulating certain activities falling under their particular expertise. ROSITO BAGUNU vs. SPOUSES FRANCISCO AGGABAO & ROSENDA ACERIT, G.R. No. 186487, August 15, 2011 A petition for certiorari is available when any tribunal, board or officer exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions has acted without or in excess of its or his jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. As a general rule, factual issues are not proper subjects for certiorari which is limited to the issue of jurisdiction and grave abuse of discretion.25 It does not include an inquiry into the correctness of the evaluation of evidence which was the basis of the labor agency in reaching its conclusion. Neither is it for the Court of Appeals nor this Court to re-examine conflicting evidence, re-evaluate the credibility of witnesses or substitute the findings of fact of an administrative body which has gained expertise in its specialized field. G & S TRANSPORT CORPORATION vs. TITO S. INFANTE, MELOR BORBO, and DANILO CASTAÑEDA, G. R. No. 160303, September 13, 2007.
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