Media's Fault?

Commentary : Media and elections

Violet B. Valdez
Inquirer News Service

(The following was adapted from a talk delivered at the International Conference on Politics in a Transition Period and the Role of the Media. The conference was held in Ulanbataar, Mongolia last month. The author is a faculty member of the Department of Communication of the Ateneo de Manila University.)

AT THE CENTER of the storm engulfing the administration of President Macapagal-Arroyo is the conduct of the national election which she officially won. Today, however, the integrity of that election is in question, and Ms Arroyo is accused of having acquired her seat through massive electoral fraud. The evidence is an audio tape which carries, allegedly, wiretapped telephone conversations between her and an election official. Among those discussed in the conversations was a plot to rig the elections. Neither the authenticity of the tape nor the voices in it have been officially established, but it continues to wreak havoc on an administration already beleaguered by mammoth problems.

Free and fair elections are key to a democracy. The ability of the citizenry to choose its government in an open, fair process is the hallmark of a democratic society. Thus, democratic societies enshrine institutions which protect and foster the integrity of elections, among them, the press.

The media play a crucial role in elections by being themselves: observers and recorders of events and issues, thus bringing public events into the public sphere—that abstract space in which citizens discuss and debate public issues. This information and opinion-formation role of the media implies the notion of the press as a watchdog, a role that underlies the ideology of popular and representative government because "it springs from the idea of the populace as sovereign entering into a social contract with a governing establishment that will serve popular interests."

The present controversy provides an opportunity to re-examine the conduct of the 2004 elections and the role of the media. Also, it draws attention to a compelling need to scrutinize the ways in which the press deals with elections. How did the media cover the elections? Did the journalists conduct themselves in keeping with professional standards?

Uncovering media coverage

A number of studies provide clues to the quality of the media coverage of the 2004 elections. A content analysis done by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) showed serious failings, gaps and flops in the election's coverage by major newspapers and TV newscasts. The CMFR found that the coverage tended toward the trivial and sensational and lacked in thoroughness and balance; it was also dubious. Celebrities, surveys and mudslinging dominated the news to the exclusion of reports on platforms, policy issues, development issues and elections at the local and Senate levels. News reports were often inaccurate, if not fabricated, and made frequent use of anonymous sources.

The skewed coverage and the trivialization of the elections did not escape voters, according to a study done by the Ateneo Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC). From data obtained from voters belonging to the poor segment of the population, the IPC found that the participants in the study thought they had inadequate information particularly about candidates running for national positions. One participant said that news revealed only "what the candidates did on a particular day of the campaign and not what they (wanted) to do, what they have already done, what they have accomplished or (wanted) to accomplish."

Bribes shape news

Professional conduct was far from exemplary, as can be gleaned from a report of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). Obtaining data from a sample of print and broadcast reporters and editors who covered the elections, the PCIJ's findings revealed that there were journalists who took bribes, that the acceptance of bribes had shaped election news, and that the concern for ratings or circulation was paramount when editors judged the newsworthiness of an election story or issue.

The report of a non-government observer of the elections, the National Democracy Institute, reflected the findings of the three studies. It observed various forms of anomalous conduct, including that of journalists or media outlets taking money in exchange for either positive or negative coverage of opponents—depending on the donor's interests, or news organizations' soliciting advertising from candidates and parties, or the partisan affiliation of many media outlets and executives, and "blurred (the) lines between objective journalism and press agentry, as those providing the commentary are usually representing those being covered."

Watchdog media, credible elections

The lack of integrity of the media coverage implicated the integrity of the elections because the media were an important source of information and source of influence in the choice of candidates. By a good margin, the news media, according to the IPC study, was the most important source of influence of low-income voters during the elections, followed by family, church and political party, in that order.

These reports reinforce the impression that some sectors of the Philippine press were complicit in the anomalies observed during the 2004 elections, that they failed to perform the fourth estate's role as a watchdog that monitors activities of public interest and fearlessly exposes abuses of power and authority. For as long as the Philippine press is unable to perform these roles, the country will suffer elections whose results neither echo the people's voice nor count the people's vote.

Garci Tapes

Posted by Yvonne Chua 
PCIJ

AN audio expert presented by Environment Secretary Michael Defensor at a press conference this morning belittled the three-hour "Hello, Garci" tapes that former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong had bought from T/Sgt Vidal Doble of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Jim Sarthou said the tapes could not be the original or master copy because, he pointed out, these contained annotations.

"He (Sarthou) doesn't know what he's talking about," an ISAFP operative told PCIJ today.

In the world of local intelligence, the "master tape" is the version that has been purged of "basura (garbage)" or irrelevant information and annotated by the agent who did the wiretapping.

Conversations that remain in the "master tape" are continuous. "Hindi inii-splice (No splicing is done)," the source said.

The ISAFP operative said this is the common procedure followed in most agencies engaged in intelligence work, identifying some of these as the Presidential Security Group, National Bureau of Intelligence, the Defense Intelligence Security Group and the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group.

According the intelligence operative, Doble's unit — the Military Intelligence Group 21 or MIG21 — wiretapped then elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on orders of the ISAFP top brass who, in turn, had received their orders from the Palace. "No agent moves on his or her own in matters like this without an official order," he said.

At the MIG21, the wiretapped conversations are recorded on audio cassette tapes by two to three agents working round the clock.  The practice is to record everything, include inane conversations, even those about trips to the market.

The agent on duty is required to make notes, particularly the exact time the calls are received or made and, if possible, the parties who are on the phone. "This information is material when you later match the conversations to events that are happening on the ground," the ISAFP operative said.

"ASAP" assignments include the one on Garcillano.  "Tinapay na mainit yan (That's hot bread)," he said.

This means that once the conversations fill one tape, the agent on duty removes it from the recording device and immediately starts preparing what would later become the "master tape."

"We call that 'minamaster,'" the operative sad.

The raw conversations on the first tape are then poised to be transferred to another. "That's how crude and low-tech the ISAFP still is in doing electronic surveillance," the source said ruefully.

At this stage, the agent cleans up the tape by removing irrelevant or nonessential items such as the conversation on the trip to the market.  While several conversations do get purged, those that remain in what would be the master tape are " buo (whole)."

The agent also retains the ringing tone for incoming phones and the dialing sound for outgoing calls. The latter is important because it helps the intelligence body decode the telephone numbers, the ISAFP operative said.

The agent then annotates the tape, taking great care to time-stamp the conversations.

The source also stressed that conversations in the master tape follow the original chronological sequence.

Conversations recorded in one day could be annotated by several agents because these could take up several tapes, he added.

The ISAFP operative said that access to the room where the wiretapping is being done is restricted only to agents on duty. "We call that the exclusion area.  If you're not on duty, you can't go in," he says.

But for those permitted to enter, security is not as tight as most people think it is. Tapes are stored either in boxes or cabinets, with agents on duty having easy access to these. "We're not a department store; nobody checks bags," he said. "Everybody trusts each other. Parang pamilya (We're like a family)."

That explains how easy it was for Doble to retrieve the tapes.

Things, of course, have changed since the "Hello, Garci" tapes were leaked.

Impeachment Lives On

Posted by Alecks Pabico 
PCIJ

THAT was how a group of lawyers dismissed the motion filed by the lawyer of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to strike, in effect, to dismiss, all the impeachment complaints lodged against the Chief Executive, save for the first one filed by Atty. Oliver Lozano.

Pedro Ferrer, the president's legal counsel, went on the offensive yesterday while the House committee on justice went gaga over Rep. Simeon Datumanong's "unilateral" decision as chairman suspending the first impeachment hearing and conducting instead an executive session among its members to iron out ground rules regarding the participation of non-committee members. Ferrer has sought the dismissal of the said complaints based on the following grounds:

• that they are in violation of the one-year ban for filing an impeachment complaint against the same official;
• that the Supreme Court as the presidential electoral tribunal, and not Congress, has no jurisdiction on the matter of electoral fraud; and
• that the wiretapped conversations are inadmissible as evidence in court.

These are the same grounds raised in Arroyo's reply to the Lozano complaint filed by Ferrer on her behalf on July 18, seven days before Congress opened its second regular session on June 25.

"Its basis is constitutionally and legally untenable," claimed lawyer Neri Colmenares, spokesperson of Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL), one of the private complainants in the amended impeachment complaint endorsed by 41 congressmen and party-list representatives. "In the first place, the rules do not allow for the filing of a motion for dismissal."

As defined in the adopted rules of procedure, the impeachment process begins with an impeachment complaint filed and referred to the committee on justice, which then holds hearings to determine sufficiency in form and substance. Once these are determined, the committee furnishes concerned parties with written notices to file their answers. No motion to dismiss is supposed to be filed.

Ferrer's motion primarily argues that the impeachment complaints, including the amended Lozano complaint, violated the constitutional one-year bar on initiating impeachment proceedings.

It should be noted, however, that when the amended complaint was filed on July 25, the original Lozano complaint had yet to be referred to the justice committee. In fact, all three complaints (including the second complaint filed by another lawyer Jose Rizaldo Lopez on July 4) were referred by House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. to the committee on the same day (July 25).

"Therefore, nothing has yet been initiated. So the amended complaint cannot be considered as a second complaint in violation of the Constitution as the Ferrer motion alleges," argued Colmenares.

The aborted impeachment case against Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in 2003 should also  be instructive in this regard. In its ruling, the High Court further clarified what is meant by the term "initiating," which is actually the filing of a complaint and its subsequent referral to the justice committee (see Ernesto B. Francisco Jr., et. al. vs. the House of Representatives, et. al.).

This ruling also implies that there can be as many complaints but only one impeachment proceeding, (see Punzi Corner Blog's lecture on initiating impeachment proceedings) and which addresses the dilemma with the existence of three complaints that Datumanong spoke of in yesterday's aborted hearing.

Because the rules provide that an answer can only be filed once the justice committee finds substance in the complaint and the respondent is directed to file an answer, CODAL said that Arroyo's reply to the Lozano complaint is premature and similarly a "mere scrap of paper." Furthermore, no complaint had yet been referred to the justice committee at the time as Congress was still in recess.

In reply to the motion, Atty. Lozano gave an interesting take on the issue. The very fact that Arroyo answered the complaint, he said, means the president is actually admitting to the sufficiency in form and substance, including probable cause, of the complaint.

"Lozano may have a point there," said Colmenares, who however insisted they would rather abide by the impeachment rules. "Coupled with the president's apology and her lawyer's admission that it was Garcillano with whom the president talked to, the sufficiency in form and substance, including probable cause, has already been established. The impeachment case has to be elevated to the Senate."

In a press conference yesterday, Ferrer made a slip by acknowledging that it was former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano whom Arroyo had talked to. He however refused to give further comments after realizing his blunder.

Old vs. New

The Long View : Faith instead of fear

Manuel L. Quezon III
Inquirer News Service

MY objection to the solutions being peddled by many of our politicians is that they are anchored on fear of and loathing for the people. No solution, motivated by distrust and hatred -- more so, if it seeks to eliminate the participation (however superficial) of the many in government -- can prosper or should be allowed to prosper.

Take the proposals to replace a nationally elected presidency with a prime minister elected by fellow members of parliament. The mentality that seeks the change is anchored on the proposition that the public cannot be trusted with the task of choosing those who should govern the country. There is whining and groaning about the evils of "popularity," but these come from those who happen to be unpopular. In normal life, this would be known as sour grapes. In politics, it is a "win-win" solution.

The supposedly stupid majority, who happen to be the poor and the less-educated, are blamed for a series of disastrous choices: the worst one apparently having been Joseph Estrada, with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a close second. A third disaster, Fidel V. Ramos, is, of course, conveniently ignored because -- in fairness to him -- he was neither lazy, stupid, too greedy, nor too careless as compared to his successors. Never loved by his people, he at least enjoyed the public's sublime indifference, which is better than the active hostility aimed at his successors.

However, to focus on the manner by which Estrada threw away his mandate (by failing to justify his human weaknesses with at least a sustained effort to do the work he was hired to do), or on Ms Arroyo's having never been loved and now, on her being neither respected nor feared, but simply endured as the lesser of so many evils, is to ignore the bigger picture. What's that picture? It is of a people, wise enough to overwhelmingly reject Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo at the polls, though stumped over the choice of an alternative.

In 1992, close to three out of every four voters (71.4 percent) felt Ramos was not their idea of a president. In 1998, close to two out of every three voters felt Estrada was unqualified for the presidency, even though on his own, Estrada garnered as many votes as his four leading opponents combined. In 2004, six out of 10 voters decided they preferred someone else to Ms Arroyo. Since the quicker turnover in positions means it will be a rare occasion that a person of vast experience and ice-cold nerves, like Ramos, will show up, it's no wonder Filipinos have resorted to People Power semi-successfully once (January 2001) and disastrously-once, too (May 2001); and are now still agonizing over the possibility of resorting to it in the future.

The question should really be: If the people turned out right, why did they end up with such presidents, anyway? History seems to have proven the majority correct (granting, for the sake of argument and kindness to former President Ramos), two times out of three past national elections. They didn't want Estrada, and he turned out a dud; they didn't like Arroyo, and now she's fighting for her political survival. They didn't want Ramos either (he still smarts over the public's lack of enthusiasm toward him to this day). Where, then, is the stupidity of the electorate? Indeed, the public, across all socioeconomic lines, went through a period of supporting the incumbent, even if victory was achieved through a mere plurality. They gave presidents enough rope with which to hang themselves.

That the presidents have chosen to hang themselves is their fault, not of the public, certainly not the majority of the public that couldn't help it if the alternatives to those they clearly didn't want failed to sort things out among themselves. In any election, there is always a candidate who represents the clearest threat; it takes unity among the opponents of that threat to prevent the enemy from winning by default. Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo all won by default. Which is not to say theirs was ever much of a victory.

Last Monday, a "Blueprint for a Viable Philippines" was launched. I was unable to attend their early morning affair, but received a copy of the first draft of their policy paper. I believe the paper deserves the widest circulation and the most vigorous discussion. The "Blueprint" will shock many readers with the reasonableness, the cosmopolitan yet nationalist nature of its analysis and proposals. These are not characteristics usually identified with many of those involved in the drafting of the "Blueprint." However, those who drafted this policy paper have proven they have what is so desperately needed at the present time: open minds, reasonable but firm convictions, a willingness to discuss instead of dictate. I can't imagine a better demonstration of the weakness of the Ramos plan-a three in one, top-down, simplistic hard-sell-than the manner by which the "Blueprint" has been put together, and the way it's been offered to the public. The former is anchored on a disdain for the majority; the latter seeks to engage the majority.

My only misgiving about the "Blueprint" is that former President Estrada endorsed a "blueprint for a viable Philippines" on July 25, which suggests that the dangerous flirtation between the University of the Philippines intelligentsia and Estrada continues. Make no mistake: The proponents of the "Blueprint" would demolish the old elite's stranglehold on power in order to establish and entrench a new elite. But that is the way of the world; it is how nations progress. The old must give way to the new. As I've said, we must embrace the new, particularly if all the old has to offer is fear of ourselves.

More Flights

More carriers to use Cebu airport
Clarissa S. Batino
Inquirer News Service

HONG KONG airline Cathay Pacific will double its flights to twice daily to and from the Mactan International Airport starting Oct. 1 in anticipation of increased volume going to the Crown Colony once the Disney theme park opens in Hong Kong next month, the airport head said.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Qatar Airways will also introduce new flights from Cebu in the fourth quarter of the year, said Mactan airport general manager Adelberto Yap.

PAL will launch a direct flight to Guangzhou, China, in the fourth quarter and Qatar will increase its flights to twice daily to and from Cebu, Yap said.

"Qatar is the only airline servicing the Middle East route direct from Cebu and has a monopoly of the overseas workers from the Visayas and Mindanao," he said in an Inquirer interview.

Budget carrier South Phoenix Airlines is scheduled to begin flights from Malaysia to Cebu in mid-August, Yap also said.

South Phoenix, a Filipino-Malaysian joint venture, currently flies from Cebu to Zamboanga City in Mindanao and Sandakan in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

Cargo carrier Trans Global Air lines will also start carrying goods from Asia, primarily China, through the Cebu hub on Aug. 22.

Last month, South Korea's Asiana Airlines started four weekly week flights from Incheon to Cebu. Korean Airlines began Pusan -Cebu operations on Aug. 1.

Yap said the Mactan airport had completed a P123-million improvement of its runway and had just purchased nine brand-new X-ray machines.

The airport authority plans to acquire two P200-million movable air bridges to augment the capacity of the terminal, he added. It needs two more to support the growing passenger volume, which is expected to increase in the coming weeks when Asiana and Korean Air start mounting direct flights, he said.

The present four air bridges can no longer accommodate the increasing number of flights landing and taking off from Cebu, he said. The airport authority uses a bus to bring or fetch passengers to areas far from the terminal every time the four bridges are used, he said.

Early this year, airlines complained that the Mactan airport's rough runway surface was damaging the tires of their aircraft, Yap said. Some even threatened to pull out if the runway was not fixed, he said.

Yap said the airport authority would need about P2 billion to build a new passenger terminal, which he said would have to be built in three years to keep up with passenger volume. He said the government would likely take out bank loans for the purpose.

From about 2.5 million passengers it handled last year, the Cebu airport expects to handle five million passengers in five years, he said. With INQ7.net

Charter Sabotaged

At Large : Subverting the Constitution

Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service

IT'S really a shame -- no, a scandal -- that the best instincts for political and social reform that the framers of the 1987 Constitution brought to the creation of our basic law should have been twisted, mangled and corrupted by the very people sworn to uphold it.

The three-part Special Report by Jerry Esplanada, on election irregularities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), specifically on the dubious conduct and counting of the votes for party-list groups, illustrates how national and local politicians, with the connivance of election officials, have twisted to their own advantage innovations in the Constitution that were meant to set our political system on the road to reform.

Ironically, one of the sources Esplanada relied on for this exposé was the "man of the hour," former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, now being sought for his testimony on alleged election irregularities in Mindanao, as captured in his phone-tapped conversations with, to use lawyerly language, "a person who sounds remarkably like President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

Unaware perhaps just how notorious he would become in the next few months, Garcillano told Esplanada that election anomalies take place in Mindanao "either because of money or pressure from politicians." On hindsight, the phrase can be construed as either a bland admission of guilt or at least complicity, or a symptom of system-wide rot, with payoffs and influence-peddling shrugged off as "part of the game."

Garcillano could at least be credited with honesty (or perhaps frankness would be the better term) in his explanation of several "puzzling" electoral results. More frank, at least, than Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos who these days seems content to pin the blame for all of the poll body's ills and sins on the "missing in action" Garcillano.

* * *

ONE of the more promising areas for political reform in the 1987 Constitution was the provision on the party-list system, which would open up membership in the House of Representatives to representatives of marginalized and underrepresented sectors. Under this provision, and as provided for in the party-list law, 20 percent of all seats in the House would be reserved for party-list representatives, who would be representing not themselves or a specific district, but rather their sector or multi-sector parties. As set forth in a recent Supreme Court decision, parties need to prove to the Comelec that they truly represent and are composed of marginalized and underrepresented sectors, some of which were specified in the Constitution.

Since the 1998 elections, party-list groups have come nowhere near the 50 or so seats to which they're entitled. One reason for this was that more than 100 accredited party-list groups were required to fight it out for a very small "universe" of voters, since only a few were aware of the party-list system.

Another reason was suggested in the special report, where Garcillano bemoans the "laxity" of the Comelec in accrediting party-list groups that were obviously unqualified under the Supreme Court's criteria. The so-called "Mindanao expert" of the Comelec also said politicians and political parties had been funding the campaigns of party-list groups, if not creating party-list groups of their own.

* * *

SO EVEN as they talked through one side of their mouths, piously declaring their support for the struggling genuine party-list groups and hailing the system as a promising innovation in politics, politicians were busy subverting the same system, taking advantage of the party-list potential for creating an even wider base of influence and power.

Given the "experimental" nature of the party-list system and the relative inexperience in electoral matters of the groups that chose to participate, one would have hoped the Comelec took a more pro-active stance in protecting party-list groups from being corrupted or co-opted, at least not this soon.

The Comelec, for one, was awfully remiss in educating the public about the party-list system, how to choose the parties, and even what these party-list groups were. Comelec officials were also amazingly cavalier about the counting of party-list votes, setting these aside for counting "later," after the votes for local and national posts were posted. Indeed, the final results of party-list contests in ARMM areas have yet to be determined, with the Comelec failing to act on several petitions regarding shocking "statistical anomalies" in the results. Even Garcillano expressed shock at the brazen cheating, with more votes for party-list groups counted than there were registered voters in these provinces.

* * *

ONE party-list nominee was told point-blank by a local Comelec official that if she wanted her party and herself to make it to the Congress, she would need to pay several millions for the number of votes she needed.

This then would make a plausible explanation for the "anomaly." With deals made left and right, somebody forgot to tally up the number of votes that had been padded onto the lists, thus the "excess."

Given that the Comelec has yet to embark on a serious investigation and formal hearing of the cases filed regarding the statistical wonders of the ARMM voting results, I can only wish it the best in the conduct of the ongoing elections for ARMM officials. I seriously doubt if ARMM residents would lend any credence to the results, given that they have first-hand experience with manufactured elections.

Before any move is made to amend the Constitution—which we have yet to fully implement, by the way -- let's start by cleaning up the electoral system, and making sure that the real will of the people is expressed and obeyed.

IPPs Fight

As I See It : There's enough business for two quarreling IPPs

Neal Cruz opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

LAST Friday, Aug. 5, we wrote here about an independent power producer (IPP) called Power One Corp. that, according to the congressman of Oriental Mindoro, has a capitalization of only P1.56 million and cash of P14,000 on hand. Nevertheless, this IPP landed a contract with the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco) to build an P800-million power plant to provide electricity for the whole province. (The contract is being reviewed by the Energy Regulatory Commission for approval or rejection.)

Not true, "(w)e are fully capable of executing our power supply agreements," said Power One in a letter hand-delivered last Saturday and signed by its president, Facundo R. Yeneza. There was no statement as to how much capital the company has or how much is its cash on hand.

But the letter stated that Rep. Rodolfo Valencia and his lawyer Dante Manzo were referring to "outdated and incorrect information. We have corrected these during the mentioned public hearing in Calapan" (Oriental Mindoro).

To be fair to Power One, I will quote extensively from its letter:

"1. Power One through its project company, Mid-Islands Power Generation, is almost complete with our 9-megawatt Phase 1, which we will commission in 10 days. This P100-million phase is being completed from internal equity and with no bank loans. For the P250-million phase 2, we already have the generating equipment. Any accusation of financial or technical incapacity is belied by these facts."

(Question: Why did it go ahead with the project when the contract has not yet been approved by the ERC? Has it been assured that the contract would sail through the ERC with the greatest of ease? Why? What will happen to its investment if the contract is disapproved?)

"2. Power One's rate is lower than the rate of Mirant Philippines (which has a contract with Ormeco, which has still a number of years to run; for which reason, it is protesting the new contract with Power One) by at least 8 percent on base-load to base-load basis. Mirant's contract is only for 7.5 MW.

"3. The Power Supply Agreement between Power One and Ormeco had been certified by no less than the Department of Energy as compliant with the competitive selection process in its endorsement dated February 11, 2005. This compliance was re-certified by the Department of Energy in July 8, 2005."

(Note: There was no public bidding done prior to the awarding of the contract to Power One.)

"4. In fairness to our client Ormeco, we don't believe they ever intended to eliminate Mirant's 7.5-MW power facility. Power One was asked to install only 28 MW of the 35 MW that is needed by the province of Oriental Mindoro in preparation for the pullout of Napocor as part of the missionary subsidy reduction program. The Mirant contract, however, failed to comply with the conditions precedent for effectivity and failed to deliver half of the contracted energy in the last five years.

"5. Ormeco, we understand, has been asking Mirant to eliminate the onerous provisions in the contract to protect its member-consumers. Among these are the take-or-pay-provision which results in PPA charges similar to Mirant's Sual and Pagbilao contracts with Napocor. (Question: If there are "onerous" provisions, why did Ormeco sign the contract in the first place? Having signed it, it is duty-bound to follow the terms of the contract until its expiration.) Mirant is also demanding that Ormeco reinstate its commitment to buy 48 MW (of power) a year which is equivalent to 40 percent of the province's energy needs even if Mirant is committing to maintain only a 7.5 MW plant, which is 20 percent of the 35-MW installed capacity requirement of the province.

"6. Power One's core technical team has done 750-MW diesel power projects and has an average of 20 years experience. It is one of the most qualified in the country. Power One's former president was president of the IPP association, of which Mirant was a member.

"7. Power One is proud of the long-term, competitive solutions it is bringing to the province of Oriental Mindoro. To reduce power costs, Power One will be developing renewable energy in the province within three years and connect the island to the Luzon grid through a 69 KV submarine system by 2010. This is the correct solution (for) the province so that it will benefit from the open access market of Luzon.

"8. As the power market becomes deregulated and competitive, behemoth IPPs, (which) have been spoiled by their cash-guzzling onerous contracts with Napocor, must learn how to compete on price and service. Mirant must accept that, even for a company of their size, they cannot win them all and if they do a bad job they can lose a customer."

* * *

After examining the controversy, I don't understand why Mirant and Power One are quarreling when there is enough business in the province for both of them. Mirant's contract is for 40 percent of the province's electric requirements. The other 60 percent is being given to Power One. There is enough for both of them.

I think the reason is greed-on the part of both parties. Mirant is afraid another power supplier would get some of its business. Or, perhaps, it plans to supply the additional 60 percent itself. Power One, on the other hand, although it already has 60 percent, still plans to expand its capacity to 80 percent. Mirant therefore suspects Power One plans to take away 20 percent of its 40-percent share. Greed!

Another thing I don't understand is that there are hundreds of other islands in the Philippines needing electricity. So why doesn't one of them go to these islands instead of the two of them crowding Oriental Mindoro?

Case Closed

Separate Opinion : The Evelio Javier case

Isagani Cruz
Inquirer News Service

THE CURRENT controversy over the Garci tapes reminds me of the case of Evelio Javier vs. Commission on Elections, 144 SCRA 194, which was raffled to me shortly after the reorganization of the Supreme Court in 1986. The petitioner had complained of irregularities committed in the election for the Batasang Pambansa in Antique, but the case was intentionally ignored during martial law and was still undecided after Edsa I.

The records showed that Javier had failed to prevent the proclamation of the KBL candidate, Arturo Pacificador, and had gone to the Supreme Court for relief. While his petition was pending, Javier and some of his supporters were murdered in cold blood and in broad daylight. After studying the case, I recommended its dismissal, but Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee felt that the new Supreme Court should make a statement.

And so I wrote the decision on the merits, excerpts of which follow:

"The new Solicitor General has moved to dismiss this petition on the ground that as a result of supervening events it has become moot and academic. It is not as simple as that. Several lives have been lost in connection with this case, including that of the petitioner himself. The private respondent is now in hiding. The purity of suffrage has been defiled and the popular will scorned through a confabulation of those in authority. This Court cannot keep silent in the face of these terrible facts. The motion is denied.

"The abolition of the Batasang Pambansa and the disappearance of the office in dispute between the petitioner and the private respondent-both of whom have gone their separate ways-could be a convenient justification for dismissing this case. But there are larger issues that must be resolved now. The more important purpose is to manifest in the clearest possible terms that this Court will not disregard and in effect condone wrong on the simplistic and tolerant pretext that the case has become moot and academic.

"The Supreme Court is not only the highest arbiter of legal questions but also the conscience of the government. The citizen comes to us in quest of law but we must also give him justice. The two are not always the same. There are times when we cannot grant the latter because the issue has been settled and decision is no longer possible according to the law. But there are also times when although the dispute has disappeared, as in this case, it nevertheless cries out to be resolved. Justice demands that we act then, not only for the vindication of the outraged right, though gone, but also for the guidance of and as a restraint upon the future."

"Since this case began in 1984, many significant developments have taken place, not the least of which was the February revolution of 'people power' that dislodged the past regime and ended well nigh fourteen years of travail for this captive nation. The petitioner is gone, felled by a hail of bullets sprayed with deadly purpose by assassins whose motive is yet to be disclosed. The private respondent has disappeared with the 'pomp of power' he had before enjoyed. Even the Batasang Pambansa itself has been abolished, an 'iniquitous vestige of the previous regime' discontinued by the Freedom Constitution. It is so easy now, as has been suggested not without reason, to send the records of this case to the archives and say the case is finished and the book is closed.

"But not yet.

"Let us first say these meager words in tribute to a fallen hero who was struck down in the vigor of his youth because he dared to speak against tyranny. Where many kept a meekly silence for fear of retaliation, and still others feigned and fawned in hopes of safety and even reward, he was not afraid. Money did not tempt him. Threats did not daunt him. His was a singular and all-exacting obsession: the return of freedom to his country. And though he fought not in the barricades of war amid the sound and smoke of shot and shell, he was a soldier nonetheless, fighting valiantly for the freedom of his people, against the enemies of his race, unfortunately of his race too, who would impose upon the land a perpetual night of dark enslavement. He did not see the breaking of the dawn, sad to say, but in a very real sense Evelio B. Javier made that dawn draw nearer because he was, like Saul and Jonathan, 'swifter than eagles and stronger than lions.'

"... a new government has taken over in the wake of the February revolution. The despot has escaped and, with him, let us pray, all the oppressions and repressions of the past have also been banished forever. A new spirit is now upon our land. A new vision limns the horizon. Now we can look forward with new hope that under the Constitution of the future every Filipino shall be truly sovereign in his own country, able to express his will through the pristine ballot with only his conscience as his counsel.

"This is not an impossible dream. Indeed, it is an approachable goal. It can and will be won if we are able at last, after our long ordeal, to say never again to tyranny. If we can do this with courage and conviction, then and only then, and not until then, can we truly say that the case is finished and the book is closed."

Glo's Not Indispensable

Separate Opinion : Looking for a leader

Isagani Cruz
Inquirer News Service

AS an ordinary citizen observing the swirl of current events, I would say that the opposition to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is losing steam. Her foes are being routed by the propaganda countercharge mounted by their intended victim. They probably now realize that Ms Arroyo is not the pushover they had imagined her to be.

In the view of her critics, the ouster of President Arroyo was practically a done deal two weeks ago when former President Corazon Aquino publicly asked her to resign. That immediately created a snowball effect. One Opposition leader predicted that the chastened Gloria would be history in 72 hours. It is now going three weeks since that confident boast but Ms Arroyo is still in Malacañang.

What stopped that dangerous momentum on its tracks was another former President who came to La Gloria's rescue. This was Fidel V. Ramos who presided at the hastily convened conference she called to ward off the growing clamor for her resignation. She sat silently as Mr. Ramos regrouped her demoralized forces and commanded them to fight back. They obeyed, and the tide began to turn in her favor.

Now the anti-Gloria campaign is back to square one. The five committees of the House of Representatives have resumed their investigation of the Garci tapes but without the original moral indignation and inquisitiveness. It is not likely to go far without the principal witness, who has so far not surfaced despite the supposed determined search being conducted by the police and military authorities. Some say Virgilio Garcillano is already dead, like Bubby Dacer, who also knew too much.

The Senate investigation of the jueteng scandal also faces a blank wall. Evidence of the alleged involvement of the Arroyo family in the payola distributed by the gambling lords is mostly hearsay if not also generally unconvincing. Bong Pineda, whom the senators want to question, is out of the country and beyond their jurisdiction although they have ways to compel his return if they really want to. The probe is likely to meet the same fate as the investigation of Sen. Panfilo Lacson four years ago that was never resolved by the past Senate.

The surveys in Metro Manila showing Ms Arroyo's declining popularity among its residents have been dismissed by her supporters as not reflective of the people's will outside that region. Metro Manila is not the Philippines, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita declared, arguing that the rest of the country is still for the President. Malacañang has also pooh-poohed the President's poor ratings and has pointedly asked who are paying for such surveys.

A recent study made by the research group of this paper revealed that the majority of the 79 provinces in the country are still for President Arroyo. At least the governors and mayors are, although it is not certain that they control their constituents. Assuming that they do, the national consensus still appears to be for the resignation of the embattled chief executive.

The other remedy is also problematic. Impeachment can succeed only if the vote requirements in the Constitution are satisfied. To date, the House of Representatives has not mustered the one-third vote of its members needed to impeach President Arroyo. The proponents have so far mustered only some 50 of the needed 79 votes. Even if the number is reached and the case goes to the Senate for trial and decision, the outlook is also dim for Ms Arroyo's foes. The vote needed to convict is two-thirds of the 24 members, of whom only eight are now in the opposition.

Things can change drastically if the evidence in the legislative investigations, and particularly in the impeachment trial if ever it is conducted, becomes irremediably damaging to President Arroyo. Some of her supporters may join her opponents. But even that is not certain if we go by our experience in the Estrada impeachment. Despite the shocking revelations at the trial of his misdeeds, he would have been absolved if the case had continued. Up to the last minute, his 12 allies in the Senate remained steadfast.

The trouble with those who want President Arroyo out of Malacañang is their lack of an effective leader. The "trapo" [traditional politicians] in the opposition will not do because the people do not trust them. The religious and military leaders, like Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Gen. Fortunato Abat, have moral but hardly any political following. The Hyatt Ten may have valid cause for complaint but most of us do not even remember their names. The people who want to oust President Arroyo want to be led, but there is no leader to lead them.

Somewhere among the 86 million Filipinos such a leader must be waiting to be called to bring us to the Promised Land after these many decades of fruitless search. The poet Thomas Gray mused: "Full many a gem of purest ray serene / the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear, / full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen / and waste its sweetness in the desert air." Such is the leader who is yet to be discovered. Released from obscurity, such a leader can guide the nation, with its full support, to the true path of morality, freedom and democracy.

IPP Blues

As I See It : IPP with P14,000 to build P800-M power plant?

Neal Cruz opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo dared the opposition to impeach her. Don't march in the streets, she challenged, impeach me. She refused to answer directly accusations against her. "I will answer you in the proper forum [meaning, in the impeachment trial]; prove your case in court" was her mantra.

Now it is becoming clear why she prefers to be impeached. There may never be an impeachment trial. Pro-administration congressmen will block the impeachment bid because they have the numbers.

"We have an overwhelming majority in the House," boasted Speaker Jose de Venecia. And Malacañang itself has boasted that it has signed up 170 congressmen who pledge to crush the impeachment bid. Expect pork-barrel allocations to flood the districts (and pockets) of pro-administration congressmen. Expect the coffers of the National Treasury to be drained even more. Far from our taxes going back to us in the form of services, they go instead to the yawning pockets of congressmen.

That is why an impeachment trial is a very imperfect way of replacing abusive, corrupt and incompetent presidents. A president may be as guilty as hell, but he/she goes or stays not on the basis of guilt but on how many legislators are in his/her pocket.

The opposition is not disheartened, though. It believes there are still enough congressmen out there who will sign the impeachment complaint when the time comes. They just don't want to come out now so that administration operators will not twist their arms to support President Arroyo.

Yes, you congressmen were elected by the people. You represent them, not Ms Arroyo. Eight out of every 10 Filipinos don't want her as president anymore. Do as the people order you to do.

* * *

Some over-smart power plant operators apparently think Fidel V. Ramos is still president of the Philippines, or is its president again, from the way an independent power producer (IPP) is trying to smuggle a deal with the government. Ramos was notorious for signing so many onerous contracts with IPPs during his term that are now one of the main reasons for our very high electricity prices.

Oriental Mindoro province, with 400,000 electricity consumers, is serviced by one electric cooperative, Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco). It has a long-term contract with Mirant, a big international firm with other power plants all over the Philippines, to supply it with electricity. The contract still has many years to go.

However, Ormeco entered into a contract with a new IPP named Power One to supply it with electricity, long before its contract with Mirant expires. Luckily, before the contract becomes valid, it has to be approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Under the agreement, Power One would have to put up a power plant costing at least P800 million to be able to supply electricity to Ormeco. During public hearings conducted by the ERC in Mindoro, however, it was found out that Power One has an authorized capital stock of only P1.56 million, with cash on hand of only P14,000! Furthermore, Power One has no track record to speak of in the energy industry. How can a company with P14,000 cash on hand build a power plant costing close to P1 billion?

Needless to say, all the local officials of Oriental Mindoro and the two congressmen of the province, oppose the contract. The City Council of Calapan (site of the proposed facility), represented by city legal officer Dante A. Manzo, has urged the ERC to dismiss the application of Ormeco to register its contract with Power One. Manzo questioned the "undue haste" with which Ormeco concluded the Energy Sale Agreement with Power One without the benefit of a competitive selection process in clear violation of guidelines set by the Department of Energy (DOE).

Evidently, the bilateral contract was fast-tracked without going through the processes mandated by the DOE and ERC for contracts of such nature.

Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, a former governor, cited the risk to the energy requirements of the province of entering into contracts with entities that may fail to deliver a vital service such as electricity. Why did Ormeco close such a controversial deal with Power One?

Valencia warned of negative repercussions for the population of Oriental Mindoro serviced by Ormeco should Power One fail to deliver. "Why must we needlessly risk the energy security of our province?" he asked. "It is unthinkable to depend on an entity that has not even put up a single power plant nor have the resources to do that."

Besides, if the contract with Mirant is unilaterally canceled, Mirant will have to sue Ormeco and the ERC for breach of contract and damages going into hundreds of millions of pesos.

Napocor's Boast

Napocor expects to break even this year

XFN-Asia

STATE-OWNED National Power Corp. (Napocor) said Wednesday it expected to finally break even this year, after losses going back to 1998, as it cuts costs and looks to higher revenue in the wake of tariff hikes.

The power producer registered a net loss of 29.9 billion pesos in 2004, a significant improvement from the previous year's 117.02 billion loss.

Napocor was earlier this year allowed to raise its electricity tariff by an average 0.0556 peso per kilowatt-hour.

That followed a rate hike of 0.98 peso per kWh approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission in September last year.

In a statement, Napocor said it expects its interest expenses to decline to 22.64 billion pesos this year from 30.25 billion pesos in 2004, after the national government early this year absorbed about 200 billion pesos out of Napocor's total debts of 500 billion pesos.

Napocor said it also expects to reduce its operating expenses due to stringent cost-cutting measures implemented this year.

"This includes the economic dispatch of its power plants as well as an improved generation mix that will see an increased utilization of the cheaper fuel types of hydro, geothermal and natural gas, and a reduced utilization of oil and coal, which are more expensive," it said.

The rate hikes and debt transfer were meant to attract bidders for the generation and transmission assets of Napocor.

Nieves Osorio, president of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM), the state agency tasked to sell Napocor's assets, said Napocor planned to borrow 200-400 million dollars in the second half of the year, possibly through a bond issue in the international market.

She declined to give details. With INQ7.net

EPCIB Case

Breaktime: If it ain't broker
Conrado R. Banal III
Inquirer News Service

NOBODY could say if the officials of the central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) one-day passes from basement ward attendants, but they actually tried their luck at … well, peace talks.

Heading the BSP peace panel was the new capo de tutti capi of the country's monetary and financial system, BSP Governor Armando Tetangco.

Apparently, Tetangco wanted to broker peace between the two warring groups of stockholders at Equitable PCI Bank, the country's third largest bank in assets.

Featured in the squabble were the Go family, who owned 25 percent, on the one hand, and on the other the state-run pension funds Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System (SSS) plus Trans Middle East of the Romualdez family and the group of mall mogul Henry Sy, which together owned about 47 percent.

In the BSP-brokered peace talks, Tetangco's panel spent roughly 30 minutes with the Go family, led by Equitable PCI chairman Antonio Go, before the Go family sued for snacks.

The GSIS-SSS-Trans Middle East-Sy group, also known as the government side, got a treat from the Tetangco panel when it faced them for hours.

Nobody could say if the ease by which the Go family hurdled the BSP brand of peace process was any indication of which side Tetangco was leaning on.

* * *

IT SEEMS the Tetangco panel needed to work more on the government side, because the Tetangco panel gave the government an offer it could just refuse.

In effect, to bring about peace in the bank, the Tetangco panel simply wanted the government side to give way to the Go family.

After all, the Go family wanted to control the bank, with their 25-percent ownership, at the expense of the GSIS and the SSS.

Sure, by suggesting that GSIS and SSS should give way to the Go family, Tetangco and company probably only wanted to protect public interest.

The GSIS and SSS, as you know, invested only P16 billion of our retirement, disability and death benefit funds in Equitable PCI Bank about six years ago.

Our pension funds also have nothing to show for their investments in the bank up to now. In fact, the market value has been cut by about half.

For our sake, the Tetangco panel proposed three innocent-sounding steps toward peace in the bank -- i.e., status quo in the stranglehold by Go family.

And they were that the two sides (1) keep the management, (2) stop the filing of court cases, and (3) split the board seats between them.

By the way, in another stroke of brilliance to protect public interest, the Tetangco panel also told the two sides to stop talking to the media. Hmmm.

There, it's the media menace all over again. At the first sign of trouble, we always get the blame. It's as if we are the ones fooling around.

* * *

AND so, since the Tetangco panel asked the two warring groups to stop filing cases, only two days after the peace talks, no wonder, the Go family filed three cases in succession.

Nobody could say if the Tetangco panel-brokered peace was part of the strategy, but the Go family filed a case before a Makati City court, another one before the Court of Appeals, and a third one before the Supreme Court.

All of the cases involved the 10 percent of Equitable PCI supposedly in "treasury shares," which the bank bought with its own money, not the Go family's money.

Six years ago, the Go family and the GSIS-SSS went into a joint venture to buy the former Philippine Commercial International Bank (PCI Bank).

The GSIS-SSS gave P16 billion in hard cash.

The Go family contributed fond wishes.

In other words, the Go family simply used the money of the bank in the joint-venture buyout. And all these years, the Go family has been using the "treasury shares" to help them keep control of the bank, even with only a 25-percent ownership.

In all those three cases, which the Tetangco panel supposedly did not want the warring groups to file, the Go family sought to keep their command over the "treasury shares."

* * *

EARLIER, a Makati City court issued an injunction involving those "treasury shares," in effecting negating a temporary restraining order issued by another Makati court on the same shares.

Down here in my barangay, where GSIS and SSS members struggle to make ends meet, that is also known as "forum shopping," meaning, it is bad.

Supposedly, a retired justice filed a case, asking the Makati court to force the corporate secretary of the bank, a young lawyer named Nilo Divina, to recognize those "treasury shares" at the last annual meeting of stockholders.

In other words, the Go family could use the "treasury shares" -- once again.

Another Makati court had issued a temporary restraining order on the same "treasury shares," saying that they could not be used at the annual meeting.

First of all, one court cannot issue an order against another court. That is the rule. Otherwise, the courts can do nothing but fight one another, much like our politicians.

Of course, there could always be millions of reasons a court would break the rule. In this case, unfortunately, the interests of SSS and GSIS members were not one of them.

* * *

IN effect, even if the case was supposedly filed against the bank, the restraining order actually favored the Go family at the stockholders' meeting.

And Divina, as corporate secretary, followed it willingly without much of a whimper.

At the stockholders' meeting, by the way, Divina took it upon himself to preside, taking the role of the chairman, who was none other than Antonio Go.

Divina, without much ado, threatened to throw out those who did not follow the script that the Go family had prepared for the meeting.

He just declared them out of order, including GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia, who questioned the use of those "treasury shares" at the meeting.

In effect, the court injunction order told Divina to do something that was against the by-laws of the bank. Divina did not even protest against it.

Under the bank by-laws, you see, treasury shares cannot be used to determine the existence of quorum in the stockholders meeting.

The government side has been arguing, if that was the case, it followed that those shares could not be used to vote for board members.

For how can you use something that's not supposed to be there in the first place?

The government side complained that not only did the Go family, courtesy of the corporate secretary Divina, use the treasury shares to determine quorum, they also used the shares to vote for their nominees to the board of directors.

They of course voted for themselves. Oh, of course, and also their attack dogs!

* * *

SINCE the Go family disregarded the Tetangco panel no-court-case peace initiative, the government side thus also went straight to the Supreme Court.

Otherwise, the government side would have lost their battle for reforms in the bank by default. In college girl-speak, they were "making tulog in the pansitan."

And so it seems to me that the BSP-brokered peace served as a ruse. It could have stopped the government side from taking the initiative.

How else could you look at it? Look, one of the other proposals by the Tetangco panel was for the two warring groups to split the board between them.

That means, the Go side (with 25-percent ownership) would get seven seats, and the government side (with 47-percent ownership) would also get … well, seven.

Aside from its using bad mathematics, as in "25 equals 47," the proposal of the Tetangco peace panel reeked of a sellout -- with GSIS and SSS members as the merchandise.

Under the Tetangco panel's bright idea, the swing vote in the board, the one remaining seat, would go to management.

Thus, Equitable PCI president Rene Buenaventura, who would take the management seat, should become the most powerful man in the bank.

The Tetangco panel did not mind that Buenaventura was the same guy who, in past tussles between the two groups, forgot to stay neutral by siding with the Go family.

Which only makes you wonder where the Tetangco panel learned its math. No, don't tell me, not from the ward attendants! With INQ7.net

EPCIB Blues

In fairness to Equitable PCI Bank directors, officers

Inquirer News Service

THIS is in reaction to Conrado Banal III's column, "If it ain't broker." (Inqurirer, 8/2/05) I have previously opted to remain silent despite the continuing tirades of Banal against the Equitable PCI Bank and some of its directors and officers, but I believe it is now incumbent upon me to react to his lies to do justice to the reputation of all the parties -- Antonio L. Go who represented the Go family, Social Security System president and CEO Corazon S. de la Paz, Government Service Insurance System president and general manager Winston F. Garcia, lawyer Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez who represented Trans Middle East Corp., and lawyer Nilo T. Divina -- who attended the meetings called by Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the Philippine central bank) last July 20.

As president and CEO, I was requested to be present in two meetings. The meetings were called for the sole purpose of ensuring that the bank can continue to conduct normal operations and service the needs of its clients. It was clear to all the parties that any suggestions to be discussed during the meetings will all be pursuant to the said objective—the protection of the bank and its stakeholders.

Banal's statement that "the Tetangco panel simply wanted the government side to give way to the Go family" is a malicious lie which casts aspersions on all those who were in the meetings. Discussed in the meetings were three main topics:

1. To allow the Equitable PCI Bank's management to continue running the day-to-day affairs of the bank and to exercise its authority under the limits previously granted to it.

2. To minimize heated public discussions of the shareholder issues as these may cause undue concerns on the part of the bank's clients and depositors.

3. For the major shareholder groups, to continue discussions so that a final resolution of the various issues can be arrived at as soon as possible, including the final composition of the board, where all shareholder groups would have the proper representation by virtue of their proportionate shares in the bank.

I can attest that the discussions were very open and cordial. There was never any impression on the part of the shareholders' representatives that the BSP panel was taking sides.

It is very sad that Banal would make up a story portraying that the meetings, wherein he was not even present, had objectives other than ensuring the protection of the bank and its clients. I do not know what motivated him to insist on a particular column slant, which none of the parties in the meetings ever saw.

I also take this opportunity to comment on Banal's continuing lies against my person and his oft-repeated statements that I have been siding with the Go family. I believe that the best proof that this allegation is false and one that is not shared by any of the major shareholder groups is the fact that the existing management team under my leadership was elected by both boards of directors.

If it ain't broker – Breaktime, by Conrado Banal III (Aug. 2, 2005)

RENE J. BUENAVENTURA, president and chief executive officer, Equitable PCI Bank, Makati City

Digital Films

There's The Rub : Time out

Conrado de Quiros dequiros@info.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

TIME out to talk about more serious things. There's a bit of good news amid the squalor of bad news in this country, and that is the lease on life digital and independent ("indie") films are giving the local movie industry.

In case you still haven't heard, the local movie industry is virtually dead. You can hear its dying gasps from here to Aparri. That industry, which used to produce close to 300 movies a year, is now producing only 70 or so. And the survivors aren't doing all that well. Reputable directors and actors have turned to TV instead, where work may not be vastly lucrative but it is at least steady. Their talents though are being frittered away in productions -- "fantaseryes" [TV fantasy series], "telenovelas" [TV soap], and so on -- that cater to the least common denominator. These are hard times.

The obvious way out seems to be for the industry to explore new avenues-new stories, new faces, new ways of filmmaking-to lure back audiences. But exploration or experimentation is the last thing producers want to do, given the high cost of making movies, particularly star fees, and given the not-so-sterling showing of movies that have done exactly that over the years. Their instinct has been to rely on formula, which demonstrably no longer works. It's been a chicken-and-egg situation for some time, one seemingly without resolution.

Digital and Indie films, which are often one and the same, may just have found the answer to it. They are relatively cheaper to make. And their makers can afford to experiment the way the producers of commercial movies cannot, or do not. They have lower costs-cheaper equipment, lower fees (the better-known faces are going to them for the psychic income more than the financial one)-and are in a better position to recover them even with smaller audiences.

Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, the director of "Mga Pusang Gala" [Stray Cats], tells me she used digital cameras that cost P3,000 a day. Their analog counterparts range from P15,000 to P20,000 a day. Of course, the high-end digital cameras would have cost P40,000 a day, but only George Lucas' cousins in the Philippines would contemplate renting that.

Nap Jamir, the cinematographer of "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros," agrees and says the trick is using the P3,000-a-day digital cameras creatively to overcome their limitations. Lighting in particular can do wonders to hide the blemishes. Which he shows in "Pagdadalaga": the graininess shows only in the daytime street scenes, which look a bit overexposed.

If those two movies, "Mga Pusa" and "Pagdadalaga," are anything to go by, Filipino movies are more likely to recover faster than Filipino politics. Both represent the wave of the future in terms of infusing local filmmaking with new sensibilities. "Mga Pusa" makes the bigger gamble by aiming at a middle-class audience, with its middle-class themes, middle-class language (the dialogue is in English in many parts) and middle-class attitudes. It adopts a self-conscious or self-mocking stance toward this: One of its main characters is a romance novelist for a company whose editor cannot appreciate writing stories for the middle class because their audience is "masa" [masses]. In one scene, his editor tells him no masa woman lives alone, his premise for a story is implausible. His editor tries to corroborate this with his secretary who promptly answers, "I do."

I can only hope the movie itself meets with a long queue in movie houses defying "wise-money" expectations.

"Mga Pusa" tells of a gay man, Boyet (Ricky Davao), and his neighbor, a single woman, Marta (Irma Adlawan), who are at the mercy of their itinerant lovers. Its theme is (almost inevitably) that literal stray cats are more worth caring for than their human counterparts. It goes on to explore the relationships between Boyet and Irma and their lovers with impressive richness and complexity. One may quibble about the tone being a little uneven at times (it strives to maintain a tragicomic one throughout, though not always successfully) and with some parts being a little predictable, but those are nothing. They are more than offset by the movie's humongous virtues, not the least of them the acting and directing. Ellen essays one very mature and confident directorial job for a first outing, and the lead players are fantastic, Adlawan in particular.

The movie's many allures start off with its title, which of course is richly ironic, the coming-of-age, or into maidenhood, of a boy named Maximo. The curious title refers to a gay boy living in the slums with his family of petty crooks who falls in love with a cop, which divides his loyalties. That premise, while being dramatic, also risks being contrived, and the movie teeters on the edge of the latter in some parts. But it manages on the whole to walk the tightrope, and ferociously gracefully. The movie is at its best in exploring the relationships between the family members. It does a magnificent job not just giving a face to people who proverbially live on the knife's edge but in demolishing the stereotypes about them, which are really just two ways of saying the same thing. It gets a trifle shaky in the dynamics between (the quite literal) cops and robbers.

Michiko Yamamoto, the scriptwriter who also wrote "Magnifico," gets to be a better storyteller by the day. The performances are uniformly riveting, Ping Medina (Pen's son) is a revelation. But the plaudits easily go to Nathan Lopez (Maximo) who was given a special citation by the Cinemalaya Awards. It is totally deserved. That boy is going places, very far places.

What can I say? It's nice to know that art at least is flourishing in this country even if morals are not. Never mind the local movie industry. Do yourself a favor. Go watch these movies.

Mendoza's Column

Commentary : Light

Lourdes Didith V. Mendoza
Inquirer News Service

AFTER GOING through one political crisis after another, Filipinos may have felt that it's all right to let their guard down, for the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be getting nearer. However, as another crisis grips us, the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to look like a train coming right at us. I'm actually hoping that it is; I'm naively wishing that those who really have good intentions for the country will smartly step out of its way, and the ones who don't we can push, not to their deaths, but to the open doors of the train so that they are brought somewhere far away. But I am sure they will stay on the railroad tracks, thinking that the light is an approaching diamond's brilliance.

This isn't hopelessness speaking, it's actually hope misplaced because of the darkness of confusion. But what can one do? We've invoked Christian and moral principles left and right to undo the mess that we have created. We've come up with all sorts of studies to improve the quality of our lives. We have set up various committees, organizations and associations to carry out concrete actions for the country. But it doesn't feel as if we have progressed as a nation. It just feels as if we have given more importance to the quantity of what we do or say, but not the quality.

I was fortunate to come across a group that values quality work and words. This group is not made up of learned men or women who shape our society, but maybe someday it will be. This group is made up of young men and women who moved and shook their little slum community.

The Park Seven Youth Club is a small group of young people who came up with a small project: building a fence that will separate their community from a smelly creek that runs the length of their neighborhood. They didn't get any support from the adults in the neighborhood at first. Nobody ever thought of putting up a fence that would eliminate the hazard of children falling into the creek, which had happened many times. Or if somebody did, nobody took the initiative to make the community safer by building a fence. Yes, lots of people in their area look after their own families, but nobody thought of going beyond their own families except the members of the Park Seven Youth Club. It was this group of young people who thought of making their community safer for all families living there.

The group was able to find the funds needed to buy the materials to build the fence. When the members brought all their purchases home, people started talking. The talk ranged from mere curiosity to allegations of pocketing funds.

The kids ignored all these and focused on the work they had to do. This doesn't mean that they were not hurt by the gossip that reached their ears; they were, but they knew they had to complete the fence before the rainy season started, and nobody was willing to do it, except them.

What hurt the kids most was a direct attack by one of their affluent neighbors. You see, the homes of these kids are wedged within one of the well-heeled subdivisions in Quezon City. One subdivision resident approached them one day, after seeing all the things they bought and hearing all the hammering going on as the kids built the fence. He sarcastically asked them, "If you can get money for a little fence, why can't you get money to buy your own house and lot?"

Despite the snide remarks, the members of the youth club continued with their project. In fact, they have already finished building the fence, with a bit of help from a few adults from the neighborhood who taught them how to weld metal, paint and mix cement. The focus and diligence of the group members caused dramatic changes in their community.

Initially, the residents were skeptical about the project, but later on, as they saw the fence slowly rising right in front of their eyes, members of the community rallied behind the group. Even the "barangay" [neighborhood district] council captain and the councilors gave their support.

Now the community is a hub of activity. The kids' project has spurred the residents to action. Some residents, with the help of some councilors, have constructed a small park. The neighborhood association set up a small stage near the park and the fence. Now, in the middle of their slum community is an oasis of recreation and leisure. The construction of that oasis was inspired by the work of the Park Seven Youth Club.

After building the fence, the members of the club went beyond their primary goal of making the community safer. They have also deconstructed some of the obstacles that hindered the community's progress. They disproved the notion that the youth of their community are good for nothing and that only adults can get things done. They also disproved the notion that a slum community should always be despairingly bleak and dark.

People may think that the members of this youth club are such small players. After all, they are poor, young and mostly unlearned. But these marginalized characters have proven that though sidelined and silenced, the quality of their work shines so bright as to enlighten the residents of their slum community. This, the light of young and hardworking people, should be the kind of light on which we should place our hope.

Cheating Fields

By Carolyn Arguillas in Maguindanao
NEWSBREAK Contributing Writer

"So will I still lead by more than 1M?

"Hello. Doon ba sa Lanao del Sur tsaka sa Basilan di raw nagma-match yung SOV (Statement of Votes) sa COC (Certificates of Canvass)?

"Yung kabila may teacher daw silang hawak Calanguyan, Tawi-Tawi"

"Oo sabi ni Teng dapat sigurado natin consistent yung mga documents sa Maguindanao."

DB, a "political operator" (one who conducts "special ops" or special operations for "principals" or candidates) in a national election, laughs as he explains why President Arroyo seemed so frantic in her wiretapped conversations with Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, about SOVs and COCs that did not match and documents that must be "consistent."

"You have to be consistent. You have to make sure the total number of votes you add to your principal's votes from your 'target' (read: candidate or candidates whose votes will be reduced in favor of your candidate) does not exceed the total number of votes cast. The documents must correspond. It shouldn't be so blatant."

What started as a "trial and error" method among friends in Northern Mindanao ("including Garci") to ensure the victory of a "principal" 10 years ago, has since been "perfected" and practiced elsewhere, DB says.

"Operation Dagdag Bawas was just a cottage industry then. Today it has become a multimillion business," DB adds.

But that's getting ahead of the story.

Corrupting the Comelec
Even before the "Hello Garci" tapes, the ARMM provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur and the Islamic City of Marawi, had been perceived as venues for electoral fraud. For Benjamin Abalos Sr., chair of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the blame for the fraud in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao does not lie with the Comelec.

Commissioner Resurreccion Borra went a step farther. In remarks at the covenant-signing with ARMM candidates on July 18 in Davao City, he challenged "politicians and candidates" to "stop tempting [and corrupting] the Comelec officials in the field."

"The vicious cycle of poverty in the ARMM will remain," Borra said as he asserted that politicians use the internal revenue allotment (IRA) "to corrupt Comelec officials."

Abalos, on the same occasion, said he does not blame his people in the field because "ever since history Mindanao has always been problematic. It only became the center of attention now because of Gloriagate."

Apparently peeved by questions on the Comelec'S capability to supervise the elections in a controversial region, Abalos said: "Where did the birds and the bees come from? Here in Mindanao. But why are we the only ones who are deemed evil?"

The "birds and the bees" became a famous phrase when Elpidio Quirino ran for president in 1949. His opponents and critics claimed that Quirino won because even the birds and the bees and the dead voted in Lanao.

Then dreaded by many, the Moro areas were used by politicians in Manila as a virtual "reservoir of votes" especially since the road system and communications were very poor. Those who eyed national seats but were losing in other areas could win in places like Lanao or faraway Tawi-Tawi, where no one would dare investigate "ghost towns" and where election results, because of the distance, came in trickles.

Because firearms were plenty in the area, a politician unsure of winning could resort to harassment so that Comelec would declare a failure of election and hold special polls.

Cleaning Voters' List
When Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in 1986, among the first things that the Aquino administration sought to do was to clean up the voters' list and purge the list of "ghost towns."

Datu Michael Mastura, historian and former Maguindanao representative to Congress, recalls there was a purging of the "ghost villages" and the voters' list, but only to a limited extent.

An Aquino partymate told this reporter that the purging was "done on a selective basis."

"Those who cooperated with the administration were preserved. But all were done without the knowledge of Cory [Aquino]," he said.

The latest effort to purge the list of multiple voters was in 2003 when registration was computerized and required photographs.

Abalos says at least 100,000 multiple registrants had been discovered but still have to be excluded from the voters' list. Ten thousand of them were charged, he said.

Lintang Bedol, Maguindanao election supervisor, says 30,000 of these multiple registrants are from Maguindanao and a thousand of them are "under investigation."

The 100,000 registrants in the ARMM or the 30,000 in Maguindanao alone could have voted last year and could still vote in this year's ARMM polls because "they have not been convicted," Bedol says.

Aside from these multiple registrants, a major problem facing the Comelec in Maguindanao is the substitution of voters. "The greatest number of election fraud cases would involve substitution of voters," he says.

As of April 28, 2004, according to Comelec records, ARMM had 1,057,458 voters, distributed as follows: Maguindanao (334,287); Lanao del Sur (275,572); Sulu (209,677); Tawi-Tawi (120,455); and Basilan (117,467).

A hundred thousand multiple registrants represent 10 percent of the total voting population in the ARMM. They can make or unmake a candidate for senator, vice president, or president.

Abalos says these multiple registrants can still vote if they insist. "You can't do anything because [they're] registered."

DB says Operation Dagdag-Bawas takes note of the areas with multiple registrants as it does "controlled areas."

He emphasizes that the operation is not a one-shot deal. It is, he says, a continuous effort that requires investments in nurturing friendships with election officials in the field and the central office in Manila, especially since elections come at least once in three years. The operator also has to befriend mayors and governors, town officials, the military, the media, or anyone whom you could approach for help during election time.

When Comelec field officials go to Manila, DB says, they sleep on tables in the central office because their per diem is not enough. "We pity them, so we treat them at restaurants and bars and provide lodging, not necessarily in hotels but in apartelles that are comfortable enough." The Comelec officials never forget these "acts of kindness," DB says.

Negotiations may come in months before the elections (he tells his contact in the Comelec, "Give me two slots at this price") or immediately after the votes are cast, for "emergency" padding of votes although that would mean competing with other political operators. The highest bidder wins.

In 1995, DB says, the cost of a vote in the Dagdag-Bawas operation was P3 each. When a desperate candidate needed a hundred thousand or a million votes, he/she could get that number provided he/she paid. By 1998, the cost of the vote had risen to P7. In 2001, the price was as high as P15 because political operators of candidates belonging to the same party were outbidding each other.

Last year was even worse, he says, with one senatorial candidate paying P50 per vote. The market price then was P10.

"You have to know which areas are the controlled areas so you can plan ahead," DB says.

For DB, a "controlled area" is either an area controlled by a politician, where one's principal can be assured of "secured votes," or an area where friends from the Comelec can help.

'Treasure Hunting'
Mastura refers to DB's "special ops" as "treasure hunting."

"Normally," he says, the ones interested in this scheme are candidates for national posts. In the Senate, "treasure hunters" include those who are aiming for number one and the tailenders.

"They come here to go treasure hunting for votes for dagdag-bawas," Mastura says. But he adds, "That did not start here. Locals were just used."

The reported helicopter chase from Cagayan de Oro to Iligan to Marawi between Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza and Partido ng Masang Pilipino's Jimmy Policarpio in May 2001, was reportedly part of "special ops." DB says helicopters are the quickest means of moving within Mindanao, and the fastest way to bring cash, too.

Dureza was reportedly trying to prevent Policarpio from delivering cash to Comelec officials in the ARMM for deposed President Joseph Estrada's senatorial bets.

Dureza says he monitored reports that Policarpio was giving money to Comelec personnel so they tried to prevent that from happening by following him. He denies he was carrying money.

DB says Policarpio "was just a smokescreen," and was in fact so "high profile" so that the administration's political operators would monitor him. "What they did not know was we were there, on the ground. They didn't see us. We saw them."

Mastura said the "treasure hunters" take advantage of the "controlled votes" although he adds that "controlled areas" are not a monopoly of the ARMM. Outside the ARMM, politician's bailiwicks are also "controlled votes."

DB acknowledges they operate in "controlled areas" outside the ARMM and outside Mindanao.

No Actual Voting
Mastura says that with the holding of more elections, "people have become aware... This is not to say there is electoral awareness or education. But they know [an election] can be manipulated so people don't care."

Vote buying, he says, did not originate in the Moro areas. He says money is given only to the power broker. In the controlled areas, "there is no need to buy votes because there is no real voting."

Mastura says the "treasure hunters" take advantage of the controlled vote. "Controlled votes are captive votes. You can predict a captive vote."

In "controlled areas," Abalos says one candidate can have his opponent get zero either "through force" or "through love."

Datu Zacaria Candao former ARMM and former Maguindanao governor, says that, indeed, in "controlled areas," there is "no actual voting." Datu Guimid Matalam, the ARMM vice governor under Nur Misuari and a candidate for governor this year, says the same. So does Datu Ibrahim "Toto" Paglas, another candidate for governor.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema says there has never been an honest election in the ARMM.

When the ballots and other election paraphernalia are sent days earlier, Candao says, "the following will happen: they'll fill up the ballots, fill up election returns. There is no actual voting. They will just leave 10 to 20 pieces to be filled up on election day."

Like Mastura, Paglas, and Matalam, Candao, who had been elected governor of Maguindanao several times and was the first elected governor of ARMM, looks forward to "an election that will reflect the will of the people."

Candao says that in 2001, he filed a petition for an annulment of votes credited to his rival candidate for governor, by presenting as evidence the book of voters which the voter signs before casting his/her ballot.

"The book of voters contained identical signatures from cover to cover," he says. He asked Comelec to receive the evidence, which had been examined by a technical team from Comelec Manila, but Comelec "never gave me a schedule of hearing."

Candao says Malacañang played a "very big role in influencing Comelec... I failed to get that [schedule of hearing] in three years," by which time [2004], the term of office for the post he vied for had ended.

Power Competition
Abhoud Syed Lingga wants the electoral process examined deeper and revised to make it truly reflect the will of the Moro people. Lingga, head of the Bangsamoro Research Institute, acknowledges that elections are not the traditional way of choosing leaders. But he says elections are "within the democratic teachings of Islam."

Lingga explains that the ARMM has many competing powers—constitutional power, traditional power or the influence of datus, and revolutionary power or the power of the liberation movements.

"When there's competition of powers in society, the tendency is for the system to break down," he says, recalling that even before the emergence of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, there was already a competition between constitutional power and the power of the datus. Sometimes, he says, there is a "marriage of convenience to balance constitutional power and the power of the datus. In many cases, the datu class also gets the political positions."

Add to all these problems Comelec's lack of funds, and you'll see why "independence" may be alien to election officials.

Abalos says that in most towns, there is only one Comelec official, who cannot be expected to be in each and every precinct during the election.

In Maguindanao, Bedol says he has 28 casual employees out of 68 personnel. In the 6 newly created towns, "you do not find any election officer there except one coming from an adjacent municipality. We pair that election official with a casual to be appointed with the consent of the Comelec."

He says he keeps begging for the Comelec's budget every year. "We always criticize Comelec," he says, "but please consider that [election] officials in the municipalities do not even have funds for stamps to use in sending mails."

"So you have to be friendly with local officials. Help us resolve this," Abalos appeals.

—MindaNews

Send us your feedback: letters@newsbreak.com.ph

Teodoro's Column

Commentary : The Ramos factor

Luis V. Teodoro
Inquirer News Service

DESPITE her basement-level approval and trust ratings-and calls for her resignation from the opposition, business groups, academe, erstwhile members of her Cabinet, former political allies, Corazon Aquino and a broad range of militant, religious, people's and non-governmental organizations-President Macapagal-Arroyo has so far defied predictions that she would be forced out of office by the hemorrhage of her support that began last July 7.

The Catholic bishops' decision not to ask her to resign came later. What stopped the bleeding was former President Fidel Ramos' declaration of support, on condition that she preside over Charter change and the shift to the parliamentary system.

The Ramos "solution" to Ms Arroyo's predicament put him on collision course with former President Aquino and the Franklin Drilon faction of the Liberal Party. But not surprisingly, Ramos' act was followed by the jumping of the remaining Cabinet members, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat party to Ms Arroyo's defense. The threat of military intervention also waned as the Armed Forces chief of staff declared the AFP's "neutrality."

Like Ramos, De Venecia is focused on changing the present presidential system to a parliamentary one, as all third-termers in both houses of Congress are. Barred from seeking fourth terms under the present system, these third-termers can see to it that they can run for parliament in 2006.

But the far juicier prospect is that a parliament under Lakas-CMD's control can hand over to failed presidential aspirant De Venecia the post of prime minister. Ramos is himself not very popular among Filipinos. But he would share in the spoils once a parliament is in place, perhaps, as a president with powers equal to those of the prime minister, or in some other equally pivotal capacity.

While Ramos seemed to speak only for himself in supporting Ms Arroyo, he spoke with a political and military network behind him. In the process, he also assured the United States-never a disinterested observer of Philippine politics-that the nationalist provisions in the present Constitution, which foreign investors detest, will soon be things of the past. Ramos' proposal for Ms Arroyo to stay on until 2006 also appealed to the middle class' concern for order, and its cynicism over what another political upheaval could accomplish.

As a result of Ramos' intervention and, later, of the Catholic bishops' support, Ms Arroyo got a chance to remain in office long enough to deliver her fifth State of the Nation Address last July 25. Despite her vast unpopularity, her putrid record of governance and the general perception that she cheated in the May 2004 elections, Ms Arroyo may not be forced out of office in the immediate future.

But she will eventually have to go, four years before her putative six-year term ends. Under Ramos' proposal, constitutional amendments would be completed by the end of this year, followed by their ratification in January and by parliamentary elections in May 2006. The proposal is silent on whether Ms Arroyo can run for member of parliament in those elections. If the new Constitution that Ramos wants would allow it, and she did run in an election with a modicum of integrity, she would risk being trounced so severely it would validate the widespread view that she "won" in 2004 only by cheating.

Between now and that moment when she makes her supposedly dignified exit, Ms Arroyo will have only Ramos, De Venecia, the Lakas-CMD and the Ramos wing of the military to lean on. She has lost the support of those civil society leaders she put in her Cabinet and of those NGOs that made billions out of her generosity. She has also lost the confidence and approval of much of the business community, the middle class and academe.

The rank-and-file nuns and priests and their leaders in the religious orders who do not share the Catholic bishops' moral ambiguity demand her resignation, while millions of Filipinos prefer that someone else run the country. Given these conditions, Ms Arroyo is likely to end up a painted Malacañang figurehead while Ramos and company rule. And they will make sure that she remains as vulnerable for the next 10 months as she is currently.

With Ms Arroyo's hands thus tied, the truly honorable and genuinely dignified way out for her is to resign now. This is to assume that Ms Arroyo will choose dignity over expediency, and that she will reject being diminished personally and politically. Assuming Ms Arroyo is not removed from office via People Power, and Ramos has his way, she will probably stay on to implement the Ramos agenda no matter what the conditions.

That agenda, without the cliches and the pretty words, is for Ramos, De Venecia and their cohorts to get back to or stay in power via the shift to a parliamentary system. They claim that a parliament will solve the problems of the political and electoral system, including its non-representative character, corruption and lack of integrity. But unless the Filipino millions are empowered, elite dominance, misgovernment and corruption will continue in a parliamentary system as these have prevailed in the presidential one. A parliamentary system will thus make reforms even more difficult, if not impossible.

The prospect for the disempowered is continuing exclusion even as the Ramos "solution" to the present crisis will also intensify intra-elite contention. The business-landlord-Catholic Church faction of the elite will not look kindly at a second Ramos presidency, for example, and neither will the other military factions. Indeed, unless Ms Arroyo resigns now and denies them the pleasure of having her as their flunky, only Ramos and company and their partners will end up benefiting from a crisis that has divided and debased the country, exposed the bankruptcy of its political and electoral system, and the rot at the heart of Philippine "democracy."

Luis V. Teodoro is a professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines.