Back in Bgy. Gloriaetta...

...after Romina Neri's controversial appointment as SSS president vice Corazon dela Paz-Bernardo, now comes another hair-raising appointment, that of ex-Senator Walang Baba aka Ralph Recto as the new director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Although I already blogged about it in January, and the chismis about him was raised again sometime last month, I was hoping that it would only be that, rumors. I didn't think the presidentita would actually push through with this gadsawful idea.

Recto named NEDA chief
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
07/23/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- The principal author of the expanded value added tax (VAT), which some groups wants scrapped, is now the director general of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on Wednesday announced the appointment of former senator Ralph Recto, who will assume the post effective immediately.

Recto replaced Augusto Santos, who will go back to his old post as deputy director general of the agency. (Click here for the rest of the story.)

But then that's the presidentita for you, she just enjoys making these appointments in her inner circle just to needle her critics and the public at large. Wala syang paki, even if the appointment is not suited for the appointee's personality and work experience. I mean what really are the qualifications of Mr. Ate Vi, aside from being a "feeling economist", as one ex-NEDA director-general commented to me a few months back?

All the presidentita wants to do really is to repay those who've helped her tighten her stranglehold on the Filipino people (Recto was Mr. E-VAT if you remember), instead making sure the government is managed properly. Effective and efficient governance? Pshaw! I still think this appointment was nothing but payback for Ate Vi keeping her mouth shut about the cash gifts distributed to local officials in Malacañang.

So this is how the presidentita prepares for her SONA. Kawawang NEDA.

An appeal to NEDA employees

"We shall be transparent in all our actions
And continue to adhere to the highest
Tenets of public ethics.
For ours is a caring agency responsive
To the needs of every member,
While working for the welfare of all." (Excerpt from the NEDA Mission)

A GROUP calling itself ONE Executive Committee, purportedly compose of disgruntled employees of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), has issued a position paper calling for transparency in the ZTE-NBN Broadband deal.

Because of the way the scandal has undermined the credibility of the agency and these hardworking employees – most of them honest economic graduates who are probably brilliant enough to be teaching generations of students who want to understand the workings of the economy, but have chosen to protect the wider public interest instead – the group wants the documents relating to the case to be released for further public scrutiny.

I don't know if my friends, officials of NEDA I had covered before when I was still a business reporter, are part of ONE, but I appeal to them to take action, instead of just hiding behind an anonymous group and a position paper. I know it is difficult to put one's job on the line and speak the truth, but it is time for you to come forward, release those documents yourselves, and testify. You know very well that your head is a weakling who will come to the aid of the corrupt ones in Malacañang with just a snap of the finger. He and the one before him are the cause of the agency's downfall.

Courage, friends. Save your agency, save the country from the corrupt. Come forward and speak.

Why Romy Neri refuses to tell the truth (from our mailbox)

For Immediate Release

Contact: Vicente R. Romano III, 0920.9615610
Leah Navarro, 0917.898.1957

Dear Friends,

Here's a short write-up that Jun L wrote sometime in October. He wanted me to disseminate it without attribution. I believe he was motivated both by his genuine concern for a beleaguered friend who was being maligned no end, and his desire, even then, for the truth to somehow surface. He left it up to me as to how and when to disseminate it.

I did not find any compelling reason to get it out then. But now that Jun has told it all, and Neri is being invited back to testify, I believe the public deserves to know what was (and maybe still is) in the mind of Neri – at least from the point of view of a friend. I'm sure Jun will not mind.

Let's get this out in the open.

God bless,

Enteng

* * * *

"What is Neri afraid to say and Why?

Many speculations have been made as to what Neri knows about the ZTE-NBN most particularly the direct involvement of Pres. Gloria Arroyo in this abominable affair. After his damaging “Sec. May 200 ka dito” demolition of Abalos, the discredited former Comelec Chairman, many were left disappointed when Neri suddenly clamped up when the Senators started asking him about the nature of his conversation with Arroyo, no amount of coaxing, cajoling and threats was enough to break his Code of Omerta. The question on many people’s mind was, What was Neri trying to protect when he repeatedly invoked “Executive Priviledge” during that gruelling 12 hour Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on live television?

We have known the Truth all along as one of the few people that Neri confided his predicament during those fateful days of April 2006, and how he wanted to resign his post of NEDA Director General and Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning over this incident where he lost all his moral respect for Pres. Gloria Arroyo.

We are doing this document to give the public an understanding of this predicament.

What is Neri afraid to tell the public? He is afraid to tell the public that after he reported the Abalos P200 million peso bribe offer, Arroyo casually told him to ignore it and work for its recommendation for approval anyway. That when he protested that it is too controversial and may attract the wrong kind of attention from media, Arroyo retorted back “Pakulo lang ni Joey yan and his father”. When he tried to reason that it may not be accommodated in the Chinese ODA package because it has been filled up with a list of projects already, Arroyo again ordered him to remove the low cost housing project and some water project to accommodate the ZTE-NBN deal in the ODA loan. That when he attempted to reason that it may not be approved in time for the Boao Forum which was only two days to go from that fateful April day, Arroyo with raised voice told him to include the ZTE-NBN project in the agenda of the following day’s meeting of a combined NEDA Board and Cabinet Committee, who as expected promptly approved the project paving the way for the contract signing between ZTE and DOTC in China the next day. Neri is afraid to tell the public that this conversation took place between him and Arroyo because it might spark another impeachment complaint against Arroyo.

Why is Neri afraid to tell the public about this conversation with Arroyo? He is afraid that another impeachment will simply result to more expenses of public funds similar to the Hyatt 10 impeachment crisis, because as DBM Secretary who replaced Boncodin, he was entrusted with the large scale DBM payola operation of Arroyo to Congressmen, Senators and Governors not quite similar to the crude Panlilio incident that the public is witnessing now. He is afraid with a more partisan Andaya at the helm of DBM, more public funds will be spent to buy the silence and favour of these greedy legislators and local executives.

He is afraid that with Arroyo’s firm control of public funds she can buy all the necessary support from most sectors of society to keep her in power.

He is afraid that even if the opposition knows about this conversation with Arroyo, he is afraid that the opposition will not pursue a serious impeachment proceedings against Arroyo, because it is not to their political interest that Noli de Castro becomes President in case Arroyo is impeached and becomes a more formidable political opponent in 2010. This insincere and unpatriotic goal of the opposition is already being manifested by the malicious speed that the Erap pardon is being cooked by Ronnie Puno together with the Erap camp to hastily put a united front of “Birds of the same corrupt feather” coalition against the emerging JDV led political opposition.

He is afraid that even if the Church knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, the Church will still not call for her resignation due to the closeness of Arroyo’s trusted lady liason to the Cardinal of Manila who was very effective during the “Hello Garci” crisis. That Arroyo’s Religious Affairs Operators have the Bishops firmly in their “donation” graces, as again manifested by the quick rebuttal of the Mindanao Bishops’ of the call of their fellow bishops in Luzon who where calling for the resignation of Arroyo just after Arroyo gave them a visit in Mindanao.

He is afraid that even if the military knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the fraudulent ZTE-NBN deal, the AFP brass is much to indebted to Arroyo for their position and the perks that goes with their position, that they have demonstrated this twisted loyalty with their willingness to detain, remove from the service and even shoot their own men for voicing out their legitimate concerns regarding the corruption and moral authority of their Commander in Chief. It is a sad spectacle to see the respected warriors of the Marines & Special Forces rot in jail with their ideals, while their men are dying even without receiving the measly P150 per day combat pay that was promised to them by Arroyo due to lack of funds & generals gets a gift bag similar to those given to the governors and congressmen just for having dinner with Arroyo the day after that infamous breakfast & lunch meeting where bribe money flowed scandalously free.

He is afraid that even if the Media knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN scam, Media will simply wither in the torrents of cash and favors similar to how the Hyatt 10, Hello Garci crisis were killed in the media headlines and Radio& TV coverages. Although he believes in the integrity of a handful of Journalist, he believes that a handful of these mavericks cannot withstand the hordes of paid lackeys of Malacanang. Especially that the Arroyo crisis team is now being handled by the best mercenary money can buy, from Ramos Sulo Operation, Erap’s DILG and now Arroyo’s troubleshooter, Ronnie Puno. Ably supported by the Media and PR money from PAGCOR being handled by Cerge Remonte to buy positive airtime, headlines and editorials.

He is afraid that even if the Business Sector knows about the truth of Arroyo’s direct involvement to defraud the coffers of the taxes they are paying, the businessmen will be reluctant to rock the boat of the current economic uptrend, especially with the very close personal and business relationship of the so called leaders of the big business like Ricky Razon of ICTSI, Donald Dee of PCCI and Francis Chua of the Filipino-Chinese Federation to Arroyo herself. He is afraid that the hard earned remittances of Filipino OFWs that is keeping the economy booming and that can keep the economy afloat even under any administration is being wasted under this unholy alliance of Arroyo and her favoured businessmen.

He is afraid that even if the Civil Society knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal, that the Civil Society is now tired of mass actions after witnessing two failed EDSA revolutions, that Civil Society is now afflicted with a “Rally Fatigue” and cannot muster enough public outrage to denounce Arroyo’s “corruption with impunity”. He is afraid that the middle class is now indifferent to the corruption that goes around them, not realising that the middle class are the ones mainly carrying the burden of the loan payments for these corrupt deals. He is afraid that the middle class are more interested to become an OFW & to leave this country leaving their family and children behind, and may not care anymore about the crimes being committed against their country by its own President.

He is afraid that even if the Masa, the students, the workers knows the truth about Arroyo’s direct involvement in the ZTE-NBN deal to steal precious resources from public funds, that they are now too poor and impoverished to be able to afford the time to join mass actions against the abuses of the Arroyo administration, that these former vanguards of mass actions in the country are now completely dependent on financial resources of professional organizers and have turned themselves into a “Rally for hire” groups rather than a true and genuine political gathering shouting for reforms.

He is afraid that the public may not know the extent of corruption in this country and may wrongly believe that they can cure corruption by simply replacing Arroyo with another person. He is afraid that the public may overlook the systemic and institutionalized nature of the source of corruption in this country, he is afraid that the people will again opt for a regime change without concern or a plan to correct the root causes of corruption in the country. He is afraid that people may not realize that it is not bringing Arroyo down that is difficult, it is establishing a new order that is the difficult task.

This is the predicament of Neri which I want people to realize especially to those who are asking Neri to tell the truth."

FORWARD THIS SO THE PUBLIC MAY KNOW.

Ok I'm awake now! But WTF?!?!

YEAH, yeah, I've been mostly dozing through the holidays and have been lazy to blog these past couple of weeks. Blame it on the unhealthy diet of pork, beef and a whole lot of carbo-protein dishes that have not only clogged my arteries but has turned my brain matter into swill.

Besides the weather has been so balmy lately, it just made better sense to keep staying in bed save for the token once-a-week visits to the gym to justify my monthly credit card bill to which my gym dues are charged.

What finally woke me up today was a nice catty and entertaining chat with my forever favorite economist – yeah, one of those who taught the presidentita and is now ashamed of it. I had to interview him for a piece I'm doing for a publication abroad on the impact of a Democrat win on the U.S. dollar and the economy.

In between the usual academe-speak of solving the U.S. budget deficit and our own possible bets for the 2010, there was much gossip traded about the usual goings on in the government. According to favorite economist, the word that has been going around since last December was that Malacañang now has its eye on a new director-general for the NEDA. At this point this is probably old news already, but this was the first time I've heard of it. It downright shocked me into consciousness like a defribillator. It's none other than Mr. ex-Senator walang baba, Mr. Ate Vi himself, Ralph Recto! And I'm like, WTF?!?!?!

(Mr. and Ms. Vilma Santos. In fairview, maganda ang lolah ko. Photo from celebrity.com)

Is this another cruel joke being perpetuated on us, the innocent poor citizens of this godforsaken country, by the freakish resident in Malacañang?! I AM NOT AMUSED! But favorite economist says Mr. E-VAT has actually been "feeling economist" ever since he chaired the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee. At one agency's budget deliberation, the story goes, Sen. Mr. Vilma Santos tells the agency's heads, "Let's not talk about your budget because it's very small. Let's talk about development issues." Eff! and double eff! Ano ba itoh?

Of course, for the present dispensation in the Palace by the smelly river, it makes sense to have another clueless but compliant dolt running NEDA, like runny Romy Neri and his ilk. (Hey Romy, how true is it that you didn't show up at your Ateneo batch's high school reunion last December huh?) NEDA has lost any semblance of credibility in being able to mitigate the various "business interests" being favored by the bribe-able/bribed heads of the different government agencies. NEDA has lost its ability to check-and-balance questionable projects that are being pushed by the unscrupulous members of the presidentita's extended family and friends.

But then I don't see why the presidentita should change Tito "ang bigat ng eyebags ko" Santos, the acting DG at NEDA. He's been just fabulous at letting her have its way anyway. Remember how he refused to hand over to the Senate the minutes of the meeting when the ICC deliberated on the ZTE-NBN project?

Why she should choose Ralphie boy must have something to do with how his wife – the Star for all Seasons – can be/or has been useful to her. I don't think it's a reward for his having authored pushed the E-VAT bill to approval, for which all of us are now suffering from. Or that he supposedly has a Master's Degree in ano daw? Strategic Business Economics from the UA&P. (Check out his 5 Ways to Economic Prosperity...it talks about first, taxing OFWs. Tangah! Nata-tax na sila abroad noh, gusto mo pa i-tax sila dito?)

Perhaps the NEDA appointment is a reward for Ate Vi, governor of Lipa City, Batangas, who has kept her mouth dutifully shut about the reported P500,000 cash gift doled out to the presidentita's supporters at a gathering in Malacañang last October. Who knows, maybe even Ate Vi was the one who asked the little swamp creature to give her husband – who lost in the last elections exactly because of the E-VAT measure — a job? Baka bored na si Mister dahil walang ginagawa, at takot si Misis na baka mapadaan ulit si Mister sa Quezon Blvd.?

Well, Happy frigging New Year to y'all!

GMA orders review of all foreign-funded projects

By Christine Avendaño, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Inquirer, 11/27/2007

MANILA, Philippines — With the World Bank still not moving to lift its suspension of deliberations on the $232-million soft loan intended for Philippine road projects, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued a string of instructions to ensure that foreign-assisted and funded projects would be free of irregularities.

The instructions, which include a review of the road projects covered by the suspended WB loan, were contained in Administrative Order No. 210.

Cabinet officials, meanwhile, snubbed Monday the Senate probe of the suspended $232-million WB loan, due to corruption, as they pressed for more time to prepare their defense.

(The rest at GMA orders review.)

* * * *
THIS is of course, another face-saving measure for the Presidentita's guilt-wracked administration after having been humiliated by the announced suspension of a World Bank-financed project due to corruption allegations.

I'm amazed, however, that as NEDA Board chairman, the Presidentita seems to have forgotten that those reviews are actually in place in several departments in the NEDA. If I recall correctly, every year, for instance, there is a regular meeting between the Asian Development Bank and key NEDA staff to review projects that have been financed, amounts that have been disbursed so far, in an attempt to pinpoint possible causes of delays or blockages in certain projects.

I have no doubt that the same evaluation meetings are also conducted regularly with the World Bank and other donors such as the governments of the U.S., Japan, Korea, Spain, and the like. After all, these multilateral agencies and donor countries are not the types to just overlook where their taxpayers' monies are being spent, so a close watch on the activities of their beneficiaries are in place.

Whether the same kind of monitoring system is being implemented for ahem, China-funded projects, is anybody's guess though. But of course, since the emasculation of NEDA by this sitting president, who knows if tight controls on foreign funded projects are still really in place.

Has Neda gone nada?

(Alecks Pabico of PCIJ writes about the Neda of the past and of today and it isn't a pretty picture...thanks to Romy Neri. I don't think the agency will fare any better under Tito Santos who may be a Neda veteran but as we have read in the news lately, apparently lacks the same backbone as his predecessor.)

HE IS known by many Filipinos as the author of that economics textbook with the blue cover, but once upon a time Gerardo P. Sicat was the head of a powerful government agency that took care of preparing and coordinating the country’s socioeconomic and development plans. In fact, back then, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was very powerful, particularly given its oversight function with respect to the plans of government agencies. Though by protocol, the NEDA director general was not a member of the Cabinet, the position was of Cabinet rank and the NEDA chief was even regarded as a primus inter pares (first among equals).

NEDA was created by then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 by merging the Presidential Economic Staff (PES) and the National Economic Council (NEC). Sicat, who was appointed by Marcos as NEC chairperson in 1970, served as the newly organized NEDA's first director general. Recalled Benjamin Turiano, who joined NEDA at about the same time as Sicat and is now a director there: “That was the time when NEDA really had so much clout, when it was looked up to by the Cabinet.”

Read the rest at PCIJ

Teves admits Neri told him about Abalos' bribe offer

MANILA, Philippines -- Romulo Neri informed not only President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but also Finance Secretary Margarito Teves about Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.'s purported offer of P200 million.

Teves himself disclosed this to reporters in New York, saying that Neri, then the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, had told him about Abalos' alleged bribe attempt to push the approval of the National Broadband Network project in favor of China's ZTE Corp.

But at that time, "I did not put too much attachment to it," Teves said on Thursday. The finance secretary is part of the entourage of Ms Arroyo, who is in New York with other heads of state to attend the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly. (Read the rest at Inquirer.)

HAVE we Filipinos lost our sense of moral outrage over corruption in government? Apparently so, as even someone as respectable and honorable as Finance Secretary Gary Teves, apparently didn't even flinch when told of Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos bribe attempt on former NEDA Director-General Romy Neri!

Why did Teves think Neri was telling him this for? Btw, FYI lang? Obviously, Neri turned to him for guidance being a decent man of his stature. Neri's conscience was bothering him and he wanted to tell someone so he would know what to do about it. But how did Teves behave? Wala lang.

It irritates me to no end that even people whom I thought were decent have a cavalier attitude over stomach-turning incidents as this. If you don't say anything about it or put a stop to it, then you are guilty by complicity. Such a shame Gary Teves. I believed in you.

The Neda report

FOR the benefit of the public, I am posting herein the evaluation report of the National Economic and Development Authority on the National Broadband Network project currently being investigated by the Philippine Senate. Also, attached is the minutes of the meeting of the Investment Coordinating Committee, composed of Cabinet secretaries or their representatives, which deliberated the NBN-ZTE proposal. (Courtesy GMANews.TV)

Click Neda on NBN and ICC Minutes for details.

Where's FG Mike Arroyo and what's he doing? Ellen Tordesillas knows.

The next Senate hearing on the NBN-ZTE deal is on Wednesday, Sept. 26.

Hey, did anyone notice it's the anniversary of Marcos' Martial Law today? 36 years they tell me. Erg.