$100 million for Pope security

Our sources in Washington tell us their estimate for the cost of securing Pope Francis during his visit to the United States is more or less around $100 million. There is no question the Pope is a high value target anywhere around the world especially in the United States, with terrorist extremists and mentally deranged individuals as potential sources of threats. Catholics most especially can still remember the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981 when he was shot right in the heart of Vatican by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish assassin.

The visit of Pope Francis to the US presented serious challenges to the agencies involved in securing the pontiff, with the US Secret Service as the lead agency complemented by the Department of Homeland Security and several local security agencies. US Secret Service director Joseph Clancy, though, was mum about the preparations, refusing to divulge the number of agents and police personnel tasked to secure the Pope during the entirety of the visit (as seen in the AP photo by Anthony Behar). 

What made the visit especially daunting – and nightmarish for the agencies involved – was the Pope’s preference to travel in an open pope mobile – making him vulnerable to attacks from snipers – and his tendency to make unscheduled stops to greet the people, touch their hands and go down to talk to them. In his previous visits to Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay, the Pope was mobbed by people who threw flowers, notes and other objects to show their love – a dreadful thought for the Secret Service personnel who could not forget the assassination of John F. Kennedy – a tragedy that continues to hang over the agency like a sinister shadow.

While the Pope brought his own security team, the operational security details fell on the lap of the US Secret Service and the DHS. Prior to the Pope’s arrival, agents went through special training sessions to hone their ability to interact with the crowds and communicate through body language. Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland Security, even flew to Philadelphia – the Pope’s last stop – to review security details and contingency plans to anticipate every kind of possibility and probability.  Like they say, they could not afford “surprises” during the visit.

Making the visit even more complicated was the 70th UN General Assembly attended by over 150 foreign delegates which coincided with the Pope’s visit to New York – requiring massive coordination with regard to counterterrorism, crowd management and traffic control  (land and air) – an enormous undertaking that required close to a hundred personnel to man a multi-agency communications center that operated 24/7.  Several thoroughfares were locked down to limit traffic, while eight-foot high metal fences were put up, along with special holding pens to control a possible crowd surge.

As one security expert noted, the level of security preparations afforded to Pope Francis approximated – or even topped – that of President Barack Obama’s. A high-tech special satellite monitoring system complemented by thousands of undercover agents was set in place to monitor the security of the Pope anywhere he goes – especially since he loves to travel in an open-air pope mobile. President Obama even allowed the use of the presidential chopper – the Marine One VH-3D “white top” (from Marine Helicopter Squadron HMX-1) to bring the Pope to Philadelphia from New York. 

“Marine One” was accompanied by a similar VH-3D that acted as a decoy while nearby, two MV-22 Ospreys – the primary assault support aircraft of the US Marines – hovered and a third Osprey circled the area for additional security monitoring. Given the mammoth details, we could almost hear the sigh of relief of the US Secret Service agents when the door of the American Airlines plane finally closed to ferry the Pope back to the Vatican.

Ongpin – target of ‘politics’

An associate of Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin called us to say the businessman is obviously a target of politics as seen in a newspaper headline (not this paper’s) that singled him out in relation to the sale of the Social Security System’s shares in Meralco to Global 5000, an acquisition vehicle of San Miguel Corporation. What is not being highlighted in the media reports, the associate said, is that when the government financial institutions sold their stake to Global 5000 in 2009, the market price of Meralco then stood at P57 per share. These same shares – which were acquired at less than P20 per share – were sold for P90 to Global which was obviously a great deal for the GFIs.

Ongpin did not “own” Global, but was one of the five directors that included Iñigo Zobel, Joselito Campos and two other individuals representing San Miguel – which goes to show that Ongpin did not beneficially own any Meralco share but was simply acting on behalf of SMC via Global 5000, which contrary to reports, was not of “doubtful financial capability” precisely because it is an SMC company.

Obviously, the friendship between Bobby Ongpin and Vice President Jojo Binay as well as Senator Chiz Escudero – which started way back – is the reason why the businessman is being attacked and pilloried, the associate said. 

Spy tidbit: Bloomberg Philippines formally launched

Congratulations to Manny Pangilinan whose vision to launch a new business channel offering a fresh perspective on business reporting has come to reality with the formal launch of Bloomberg Philippines. Aside from straight news, the format will include feature stories on local businessmen from various sectors who could share success stories and tips to help educate viewers, especially modest and start-up entrepreneurs on how they can grow their business. 

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