Betrayed

They set out bravely to execute what might have been a badly conceived plan. Pinned down in the heat of battle, they were abandoned. Heroes betrayed.

Members of the elite SAF have not been quiet about the massacre of their comrades. The grumbling continues. Demoralization is deep.

As soon as the smoke of battle cleared and the corpses collected, the name of suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima surfaced. He was, according to senior PNP officers, in control of the operation — presumably cleared with the President no less.

Purisima has not denied the claim outright. On the contrary, he behaved strangely in the days of grief and rage that followed. Although a former commander of the police commando unit, he was scarce in the ceremonies for the dead. Last heard, he flew abroad for some engagement not related to police business.

If Purisima were indeed in command of the operation, that explains why the Interior Secretary and the PNP officer-in-charge were kept out of the loop. If the two senior officials were out of the loop, the operation could only have been funded from the President’s own intelligence fund — or so some of the most vocal critics of the administration theorize.

If Purisima were indeed in control of the operation, issues about usurpation of authority could be raised. If the operation was indeed funded from the President’s kitty, the implications are dreadful. It means he knew much more about the operation than he admitted through last week. The entire nation might have been betrayed.

New questions are coming up fast. Answers are not forthcoming. This can only stoke public anger. A SAF-gate is possibly in the making.

To be sure, a public relations operation is in full swing to obfuscate lines of accountability and buy time in the hope of cooling down the issue. There are limits to what such an operation might achieve in the face of a citizenry smelling betrayal.

Harbor battle

Meanwhile, a truly internecine battle continues at the harbor area. Reghis M. Romero and his son Michael are locked in a bitter contest over control of Harbor Center Port Terminal Inc. (HCPTI).

This battle between father and son, while entertaining at times, adds to the many problems already plaguing the Manila port.  The contending parties have deployed armed goons against each other.

The problem began when, in the midst of financial woes, the elder Romero signed two separate deeds of assignment divesting the two companies he controls (R-II Holdings and R-II Builders) from HCPTI. His son, Michael, controls HCPTI.

Recently, however, the elder Romero tried to wrest control of HCPTI. But the son stood his ground, asserting his ownership over the shares divested by his father.

The elder Romero could have simply rescinded the deeds of assignment, turning over the shares of his two companies to his son’s company. That could not be done because the records show the elder Romero was compensated for the shares transferred to his son.  The matter landed in the courts.

Last December, the Pasig Regional Trial Court issued a permanent restraining order against the elder Romero, directing them to stop “disrupting and interfering with the peaceful management, control, operations, and possession of the Harbor Center Terminal Facility.” The court took the elder Romero to task for illegally seizing management and operations of the Harbor Center by harassing and evicting its legitimate owners.

Henceforth, the court ruled, the elder Romero is prohibited from entering the port facility.

The decision should allay the fears of clients of the terminal about being caught in the crossfire between father and son.

Transparency

Much of the agitation directed against the Comelec’s award of the diagnostic contract for the used PCOS machines has to do with the indecent haste attending that award. Although Smartmatic might have a foot in the door, considering they supplied the machines to be rehabilitated, a proper bidding process should have soothed the opposition to the deal.

Award of the contract was made December 23, 2014 — just as everyone was busy with holiday preparations. It was also too close to the retirement of Comelec chair Sixto Brilliantes along with commissioners Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph.

Critics argue it might have been in better form (although there is no legal hindrance) to wait for the replacement of the three commissioners before awarding the contract. That would have avoided suspicion there was something for the retirees in the deal.

Competing bidders likewise argue that all other aspirants for the contract have the same competence as Smartmatic. Performing the diagnostics on the existing machines did not require anything restricted by Smartmatic’s proprietary rights. It is a relatively simple chore to do. They likewise argue there were no clear parameters of the work that would justify the award of a P300 million contract.

What the competing bidders fear most is that the award of the diagnostics contract could foreclose the participation of other bidders in the much larger (P900 million) contract for supplying parts for the refurbishing of the existing machines. A much larger sum is available for purchase of additional PCOS machines.

The competing bidders fear that Smartmatic will scoop up all the other contracts, locking down everything that has to do with the automated elections process.  That lock on every aspect of the automated elections process may make it less transparent.

If there is lingering protest over the award of the contract, it is mostly due to the high-handed manner the Comelec handled award of the diagnostic contract. The poll body seems to have seriously underestimated the distrust nursed by many groups over the reliability of the existing system.