Dying like sitting ducks

Now that his shooting and billiards buddy has absolved him and kept him as DILG Undersecretary for Public Safety in charge of the PNP, maybe Rico Escalona Puno can now do his job of protecting and assuring safety for the Filipino who is being gunned down on the streets like sitting ducks in a target shooting gallery and even inside their houses from Adams, Ilocos Norte, to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.

Add the following to the long list of daily shootings: Joseph Saliba, 42, a Baptist pastor shot dead by a lone gunman in Banlat, Quezon City yesterday morning; Barangay Chairman Manuel Fajardo was murdered in Kibawe, Bukidnon; Alwen Alsado, 28, a construction worker died from multiple gunshot wounds in Payatas, Quezon City; a bike-riding tandem killed Reynante Tagorda, 38, inside a videoke bar with a .45 caliber pistol in Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur; also in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, another tandem in a motorcycle shot dead Reyno Lorenzo, 23, who was also on a motorcycle; in Bayambang, Pangasinan, Patricio Ronas, 60, was shot dead and his wife Alegria Ronas was critically wounded by armed men who barged into their house in Barangay Angkawal; two Indian nationals were found dead in Agoo, La Union and Isabela. Sabijit Singh, 23, was found in Agoo even after his father had paid a P2.2 million ransom; Subash Chander Kermarian, 33, was found dead floating in a river in Isabela; at least 2 killings a day are committed in Tondo, Manila. The same is true of Quezon City, Cavite, Cebu, Caloocan, Malabon, Albay, Abra, Davao and Negros.

Then there is the serious matter of jueteng payolas. The burly Usec Puno can start to refute charges by stopping jueteng in his neighborhood of Tarlac, Pampanga and Angeles City and nearby Nueva Ecija. He can also give some attention to weekly kidnappings in Cotabato, Zamboanga and Basilan.

How about the more than 3,000 cases of rape, lately headlined by 3 cases of gang rapes? The root cause, the easy access to illegal drugs, a problem not addressed so far after 107 days of the P-Noy administration. The other main cause – failure to collect over a million loose firearms.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has issued a statement condemning the inaction of the PNP on the crime front.

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FINALLY . . . Department of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has finally come out with a common sense plan to stop the big time smuggling of oil and oil products which is estimated to cost the government from P80-P120 billion a year in unpaid revenues. The plan includes accreditation and monitoring of all incoming cargo of oil at all terminals and landing points.

But the plan can only succeed if again, there’s no collusion between the oil smugglers, Customs and BIR personnel and terminal operators. Shiploads of oil can easily be smuggled in just like shiploads of rice, sugar or chicken with the help of corrupt Customs, BIR and Trade personnel.

Let’s hope the plan is implemented properly so we don’t have to suffer new taxes to plug the big government deficit. We wait for the results. But those who smuggled oil for the last nine years must still pay what’s due.

Good start, Secretary Purisima.

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DE LIMA STAYS . . . Justice Secretary Leila de Lima admitted resignation due to the watered down decision on her IIRC report crossed her mind but declared she decided to stay because she feels she still enjoyed the trust and confidence of President Aquino. That’s for the President to say, not hers. Anyway, it is clear that P-Noy has more trust and confidence in Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa and legal counsel Ed de Mesa.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government issued a formal statement expressing disappointment over the Palace review result.

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SLOW ACTION FROM PAG-IBIG . . . The Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions chaired by Senator Serge Osmeña III found out that Globe Asiatique (G.A.) submitted 1,965 “bad borrowers” to Pag-IBIG. 944 borrowers denied they had applied for a Pag-IBIG loan while 1,021 could not be located or “ghost”. This is a clear indication that Pag-IBIG officers and employees charged with receiving, screening and approving the loan applications did not do their jobs and colluded with Delfin Lee and his G.A. officers to effect the improper release of billions of Pag-IBIG funds.

The question now is: Why have no Pag-IBIG officials been charged? To begin with, the Regional Director and her staff at San Fernando, Pampanga should have been relieved.  

Will they get away with millions again as did other previous Pag-IBIG officers like Celso de los Angeles of Legacy fame? No charges have also been filed against Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique owner and CEO.

Pag-IBIG funds are trust funds. Strict compliance with the rules should be observed.

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WHY? . . . Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa has not really done an excellent job as “Little President” so far. Why burden him with additional duties as Chairman of the Visiting Forces Program? Why relieve DFA Secretary Romulo of that responsibility? Certainly, Bert Romulo is more experienced and does not need to practice for the job. As senior columnist Armando Doronila observed, it has been 100 days of ad hoc governance.

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TIDBITS . . . Top local officials of Bataan and Nueva Ecija confirm that jueteng lord Bong Pineda operates the STL operations in these 2 Central Luzon provinces. Atong Ang operates in 4 provinces and is applying for a 5th one . . . Ramon Ang, SMC CEO bagged the Indophil shares purchase over Manny Pangilinan of Philex Mining. Indophil owns one third of the big Tampakan mining project in Davao del Sur.

GSIS President Robert Vergara’s move to transfer GSIS deposits from Union Bank back to Land Bank is a correct move. Union Bank got the deposits only because the Aboitiz family that owns it was close to GMA. Cong. Luis Villafuerte (Camarines Sur, 2nd dist.) insists DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo is a Chinese citizen. Villafuerte says Robredo’s real family name is Chua Lim . . . It’s heartwarming to read that Councilor Shalani Soledad finally met her biological father, Adi Aguirre, heir to the Banco Filipino fortune after 30 years. Her mother Evelyn San Ramon is a former PAL stewardess who graduated from Cornell University . . . Why did the Philippine Army allow 150,000 squatters to enter Fort Magsaysay?