Reaction to Spy Bits

We received an email from Gloria Arroyo’s former Insurance Commissioner Ben Santos in reaction to a Nov. 3 column item titled “Bribery at the Comelec” pertaining to the alleged bribery attempt of short-lived IT consultant Jade Deinla, whose appointment was terminated by Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes. Deinla was reportedly recommended by Comelec commissioner Gus Lagman, the two having worked together on a number of projects according to our sources.

We are not quite clear what the role of Ben Santos is in this whole affair (whether he is a friend, broker or lawyer of Gus Lagman although as far as we know Ben is not a lawyer) but in any case, he vouches for the integrity of Lagman. In fact, he forwarded to Spy Bits a copy of Prof. Solita Monsod’s Oct. 26 column in Business World (“A very disillusioned young man”) based on an interview with Jade Deinla. Basically, Prof. Monsod’s column gave Deinla’s side on the bribery issue with the subject implying that it was Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes who explored the idea of a payoff from Cmex – the company that was trying to collect P43 million from the poll body – and not the other way around.

Lest I misquote Prof. Monsod’s column, I leave it to our readers to check it out for themselves.

P-Noy’s ‘Discovery’

Contrary to what a blog reporter at the recent FOCAP forum was implying, P-Noy does not spend his spare time playing with PSP. Our inside sources tell us he actually watches the Discovery Channel (not just ANC news). According to diplomatic sources, P-Noy is particularly interested in stories about climate change and how this affects the world we live in – and he often quotes the things he discovers from the Discovery shows he watches.

Another favorite of P-Noy is the National Geographic Channel with its equally informative shows about the planet we live in and interesting documentaries on controversial issues and personalities – all of them thoroughly researched, which makes NatGeo really live up to its tag of being “non-fiction television.” (Both Discovery and National Geographic channels are also personal favorites of yours truly, by the way.) No doubt P-Noy finds the information from these shows particularly useful considering the natural disasters that have hit the country due to global warming and climate change.

In fact, the country’s weather bureau has been warning about possible floods and landslides that could affect northern and central Luzon with the onset of more rains from low pressure areas. At least two more typhoons are expected for the rest of the year and people have began noticing the severity of typhoons lately – causing streets to be flooded in such a short time.  What happened to Bangkok has come as a big surprise to many with experts saying that the Thai capital – which is built on swampland – could go under in less than 50 years. Bangkok has been sinking at a rate of one to three centimeters per year so one can only imagine the devastation that could possibly happen.

LPG users cry sabotage

With health concerns being raised over liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-run taxis, government is planning to keep a closer eye on accredited LPG-conversion centers to avoid health risks not only to taxi drivers but their passengers. A lot of taxi operators have been converting their units on account of spiraling gas and oil prices and they insist that there is no scientific basis to stories claiming that LPG-run taxis have caused asthma and other respiratory diseases among drivers. Close to 20,000 taxi units have been converted but so far, the DOH could not make a definitive conclusion unless more detailed studies and meticulous medical examinations and tests are made.

Incidentally, a party-list representative of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers’ Association or LPGMA is accusing the big three oil companies of being the secret hand driving the Federation of Philippine Industries to file a complaint before the DOJ for alleged cartelizing of operations in the local LPG market. The LPG group’s sentiment is echoed by businessmen involved in the conversion industry business, pointing out that the LPG used in cars is the same as the LPG used in the kitchen and that liquefied petroleum gas is being used in other countries as well because it is considered a clean and safe gas. Experts point out though that improper installation and maintenance, such as the habit of drivers to “force feed” their tanks to avoid trips to refilling stations, can cause leaks and accidents.

In any case, this issue only reinforces the opinion of many that government should start looking (and developing) alternative sources of energy to lessen the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

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