by Ed Lingao
TIPO-TIPO, Basilan, August 2007: The province had lapsed into yet another one of its seemingly interminable wars after suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf fighters killed and beheaded Marine troopers who were searching for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
But Tipo-Tipo Mayor Ingatun Estarul had much more on his mind as government troops geared up for an offensive in nearby Albarka and refugees began streaming into his town. The children, Estarul said, are missing school again.
A tortuous path to peace
by Ed Lingao
THE LONG road to peace takes a short detour to Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, this weekend as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) holds what it calls the “Bangsamoro General Assembly” at its center of gravity in Central Mindanao.
Throughout the week, social networking sites and mobile phones were abuzz with messages about the movements of contingents from all over Mindanao. “Allahu Akbar! Four truckloads of participants on the way to the General Assembly,” wrote one participant on Facebook. By the middle of this week, hotels in nearby Cotabato City were already fully booked, as reporters, diplomats, and travelers, visitors, and participants prepare for what could be a show of unity, a show of support, or a show of force by the MILF.
Sidebar
by Ed Lingao
MAINSTREAM MEDIA have oft portrayed them as belligerent, intransigent, even war-mongering. But when the negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) faced the Manila media recently, Islamic scholars, historians, and academics confronted reporters.
MILF negotiating panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal broke the ice with an appeal to members of the media who had gathered that day for the dialogue in Quezon City.
Palusot, palpak, pulitika
TODAY marks the first time that the Senate as an impeachment court will vote to convict or acquit a high government official. It should mark as well the day we all commit to focus on our unfinished business – transparency, accountability, and good governance in all agencies and by all public officials, without exception and across all branches and political parties.
Whatever comes of the vote, the decision of the 23 senator-judges will simply close the book on the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona at the impeachment court. But the impact, the fallout, and the injury that the case has inflicted on public institutions, how we hound crooks and grafters, and how politics and governance converge and clash, will haunt us a while longer.
Pork, local projects most vulnerable
by Roel R. Landingin
“I’M NOT hearing this,” the procurement expert recalls himself saying as he tried to cover his ears. He was recounting an interesting incident that happened sometime last year, while he was helping oversee a public bidding for civil-works contractors to build roads in a southern Philippines province.
The roads project was being funded by a major bilateral donor, which had hired the procurement expert to help ensure the selection of contractors was honest and transparent. The bidding had gone very well; there were many eligible participants and the price bids were genuinely competitive. Members of the bids and awards committee (BAC) also did not take a long time to recommend that the contract should be awarded to the lowest bidder.
Public works contracts under PNoy
by Roel R. Landingin
THE PROVINCE of Pampanga is one of the worst places to be in during the rainy season. Located at the bottom of a geological depression, it lies at the heart of Central Luzon’s drainage system where floodwaters from surrounding provinces converge before rushing out into Manila Bay. And within it lies another sinkhole, the town of Candaba, an old lakebed whose swamps and fields offer a temporary resting place for migratory birds on their way to and from North Asia.
No wonder Candaba’s mayor was furious when Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson in late July 2010 cancelled a P78-million contract to repair the town’s dikes and riverbanks that help contain waters of the Pampaga river.
by Malou Mangahas
AMID the rampant misdeclaration or underdeclaration of their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) by senior public officials lies a prettier, often overlooked, picture: the few good men and women in high and low positions who follow the law most diligently and truthfully.
To this minority of good SALN filers belong a number of Cabinet members and officials of constitutional commissions. The ties that bind them are a few things. Most came from the private sector or the professions where they founded their wealth. They are political appointees, but until they became part of government nearly all had no history of engaging in party politics or running in elections. Of fairly senior age, most are self-made names with fairly good credentials or work portfolio, even before public office beckoned.
by Malou Mangahas
WHATEVER THE outcome of the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, a once-ignored piece of document seems to be getting the attention it deserves at last. The question, however, is whether or not the general public’s increased familiarity with the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALN would finally shame public servants into taking it seriously and accomplishing it beyond token compliance.
Corona is on trial at the Senate impeachment court in part for his alleged failure to disclose not just his SALN, but also the full details of his wealth. According to his prosecutors, Corona misdeclared, underdeclared, or did not declare multimillion pesos of cash and other assets.
Sidebar
by Karol Ilagan
SINCE the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona began two months ago, members of the House of Representatives have repeatedly said that the public is welcome to access their Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALNs. The PCIJ presumes itself as part of the public, but somehow it still hasn’t had […]
