Middle class graft

With the barangay elections over, allegations of major graft and corruption have come out in the upper middle class communities of Bel-Air and Ayala Alabang. The alleged misappropriation of funds in Bel-Air by the previous barangay captain has caused such a major stir that the campaign was marred by name-calling and hysteria. At Ayala Alabang, the Commission on Audit has found alleged major irregularities of close to P50 million. They say the conscience of a nation belongs to the middle class and in fact People Power 1 and 2 were both mostly led by the middle class society. If all these allegations of corruption are proven to be all true, then indeed this country is in “deep manure.”

West Tower’s uphill battle

A former schoolmate in Ateneo, Volney Ricafort, sent me an email about the West Tower condominium in Bangkal, Makati. Volney wrote, “I’m an interested party here as my grandson, having been told to leave the building last July, is the youngest refugee at four months old.”

The city government of Makati has cleared WT as the source of the oil leak since the amount of oil that has since leaked was more than the capacity of the building’s storage tank, plus the fact that a mix of gasoline, diesel and kerosene – the very same kinds of fuel that pass through the First Phil. Industrial Corp. or FPIC pipeline daily – continue to seep in. Spy Bits sources disclosed that close to 100,000 liters of fuel have since been recovered and yet no one seems to know just how to stop the leak or pinpoint exactly just who is responsible for the mess that has also affected the rest of Bangkal’s residents.

According to Volney, FPIC, Shell and Chevron people were quickly on site as soon as the condo guards reported the seepage to the Bureau of Fire Protection. “FPIC immediately dug up a portion of Osmeña Avenue (South Super Highway) in front of West Tower. At the start of the digging, FPIC’s fence was about waist-high. Later, the fence was raised about six feet high and the top was covered as well – in effect, the digging was sealed off, so nobody could see the work going on behind the fence. Any ‘usiseros’ were driven away by a guard. It was during this period (the two-and-a-half days of digging) that pipeline operations were shut. You may remember this as the time Shell and Caltex filling stations ran out of gasoline, and vehicle owners shifted to Petron and other brands, causing a lack of supply termed ‘fuel shortage.’ There was no fuel shortage in the sense of the country having no fuel supplies. It was simply a problem of fuel transport from Batangas to Pandacan,” he elaborated.

Meanwhile, the uphill battle continues for the West Tower condo residents whose lives have been disrupted by the forced evacuation from the building - and who understandably fear that the situation could turn into a major tragedy. Those responsible should realize that it would be cheaper to quickly solve the problem now rather than wait for a major disaster. A class suit is already being considered by the potential victims.

The fourth major cell

San Miguel Corp. is set to cement its position into the multi-billion lucrative telecoms industry with its partner Qatar Telecoms (QTel) indicating willingness to increase their stake to as much as 40 percent in Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., the telco unit of the giant conglomerate. Liberty CEO Anastacio “Boy” Martirez, who was responsible for turning Smart Communications into a major player 10 years ago, is set to launch Liberty Telecoms in a big way next year, having unveiled a P7.15 billion, 10-year rehab plan to beef up the company’s presence in the telecoms industry. San Miguel has recently acquired Bell Telecommunications Phils., and plans are already being consolidated for the acquisition of Bobby Ongpin’s Express Telecommunications Company or Extelcom. Boy is all set to launch the SMC telco unit’s marketing blitzkrieg early next year that will compete head on with PLDT-Smart and Globe.

PNoy and UP Law profs

— The UP Jubilarian Class of 1985 will be hosting the UP Law Grand Alumni homecoming on Nov. 19 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati with no less than President Noynoy Aquino as the guest of honor and speaker. If there’s one thing President Noy has in common with UP law graduates and professors, it’s probably their mutual displeasure with the Supreme Court and its recent decisions.

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