THE HOLIDAY THAT IS NOT.

Kelan ko lang nalaman -- I'm sure many other Filipinos do not know it yet also -- na last Monday pala, May 28th, was a red-lettered day..  It is called Philippine Flag Day.  Of course, it is not really printed in red in the calendar, as only legal non-working days are.  Sa totoo lang, ito lang namang mga non-working holidays ang inaabangan ng lahat, di ba? dahil walang pasok sa mga ganitong araw o kaya'y doble ang sahod kung ikaw ay pumasok.

At any rate, medyo nakalulungkot isipin na ang supposed holiday na ito, which is really not, ay hindi lamang covered by a Presidential Proclamation like all other holidays, kundi ipinag-uutos pang ipagdiwang ng umiiral na batas, and Republic Act 8491, passed in 1998.  At di basta ipagdiwang nang isang araw lamang, gaya ng every other holiday.  Ipinag-uutos ng RA 8491 na bilang pagdiriwang, ang bawa't gusaling pampubliko at maging mga tahanan at opisinang pribado ay mag-display ng ating watawad sa harap, at, mind you, araw-araw mula sa May 28 hanggang June 12.  Ang Philippine Flag Day na ang maliwanag na ipinag-uutos ng batas na alalahanin at ipagdiwang ng bawa't Filipino sa loob ng pinaka-mahabang araw.  But let's be honest!  May nasaksihan ba tayong katitinng na bahagi man lamang ng ipinag-uutos ng batas.  Huwag na 'yong sa mga tahanang pribado, meron ba kayong nakitang isang opisina ng gobyerno na nag-display ng Philippine Flag kahit iisang araw man lamang.  May nakatadhanang parusa ang RA 8491 sa sinumang lumabag.  Meron kayang isa man lang na maparusahan?  Siyempre wala!  Ganito naman tayong mga Pinoy, di ba: we pass so many laws only for people to openly violate them with manifest impunity. It's really no wonder this country is fast becoming the laughing stock of the whole world.  

Ang Philippine Flag Day lang siguro ang ipinag-uutos ng batas ang pagdiriwang, ang iba pa ay covered by Executive proclamations lamang.  Aba, teka, tila meron pa yatang isa, under Republic Act 4166, 'yong kung tawagin ay Republic Day.  Ewan ko kung narinig na ninyo ang tungkol dito.  Meron akong isa pang nakatatawang about this, which please read in my next blog.

THE DIE IS CAST, NO HARD FEELINGS!

I will be a hypocrite it I say I am not saddened by the guilty verdict on CJ Corona.  Truth is, I did pray for his acquittal.  It maybe because I have always been for the underdog.  Marahil, if I were a sabungero, ako ' yong tinatawag nilang "dehadista."  At any rate, I'm happy, meron din palang tatlong dehadista sa Senado, si Miriam, si Joker at si Bongbong. And I respect them for their steadfastness amid the telling views of their peers.   The die has been cast! No hard feelings, let's all respect the impeachment court's  final verdict.  I can only wish the best of health for the Chief Justice, I'm sure he's man enough to accept his fate.

As we all know, everything started from Pres. Aquino's unbridled trust to rid the government of corrupt public officials. I give him the benefit of the doubt in beginning with the Chief Justice.  I hope and pray to God that, with the CJ now out of his way, his drive against corruption in government  will indeed succeed.  I think no one and nothing else may now  prevent him to really put GMA behind bars, sana lang, under an atmosphere of genuine due process, in the same way that GMA was able to put ERAP in jail for plunder without ado. I hope in earnest  the President will not be selective in his fight against corruption, and should be able to look not only to the the sins of the past, but more importantly to those under  his very own watch. I wish him good luck!

TRUE MEASURE OF CHARACTER

It was unfortunate that so many people had outright criticized Corona for signing a waiver on his bank accounts on condition that all  the other 188 prosecutors who signed the impeachment case plus one senator should also sign the same waiver. In my humble opinion, hindi dapat karaka-rakang inismiran ng balana ang conditional waiver na ito ni Corona, without first analyzing the circumstances more deeply.  Consider this:

1) Corona main position was that bank accounts, especially dollar deposits, are declared absolutely confidential by RA 6426 and should not therefore be revealed in a generally-accepted public document called SALN.  This issue will continue to be a  debatable issue among lawyers, but vainly.  Under our justice system, it's only the Supreme Court, not the Impeachment Court, that may rule on this issue with finality.
2) In his testimony, Corona asserted that whatever moneys he has accumulated in his bank accounts all came from legitimate sources, for which he had paid appropriate income taxes to the government since the banks outright withhold and remit to BIR all interests earned from such bank deposits.
3) The true and underlying purpose of the SALN is not as much its clerical accuracy as to ensure that public officials do not enrich themselves in office.  Proof is, the Civil Service Commissions, the branch of government that provide rules for the filing of SALN,  allows the filer to correct certain errors in his SALN for as long as
the errors are not culpable.  In turn, an act is culpable if its commission has been dictated by an ulterior motive to gain something from committing the act.  Culpability must therefore first be proven because an act is considered impeachable.
4) There can be no gainsaying the plain truth that today, and especially years ago when the dollar-peso exchange rates were as volatile as the price of oil in the market place, money market has been  a popular form or mode of investment for people who can afford.  There is cogent reason to believe that most of our public officials do have their respective foreign currency accounts.  Meanwhile, a certain CPA-Lawyer says that in all her 32  years of working with the BIR, he does not recall of any public official who revealed his dollar account in his SALN.
5) Corona's conditional waiver was for a two fold purpose.  First, to test the integrity of his accusers by inviting them to prove to the whole word that they are not equally guilty of the offense they are charging him. Second, that is also an appeal to the conscience of the 23 senators who will judge him.  I mean, if you do also maintain a dollar account which you did not include in your SALN, would you have the conscience to convict Corona for exactly the same offense that you yourself is doing?  Of course, some such senators still migh still convict the CJ, perhaps saying to himself that anyway nobody knows or will find out that I also have dollar accounts that I didn't declare in my SALN.   Then, such senators would have been measured and found wanting.  I mean, I am suddenly reminded of the words of a writer whose name has already escape my memory: "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

Corona's detractors will readily say such conditional waiver is not acceptable in the rules of court since it is not the prosecutors who are charged. Fine! But why is their application of the rules of court selective?  One  recalls that whenever Corona's counsel invokes the need to give Corona due process as provided under the rules of court, his detractors would outright say, "Ah, this is an impeachment case, not an ordinary civil or criminal case in an ordinary court"  Now, if the defense cannot cite the same reason, i.e. relaxing certain rules of court that need not apply to  Corona's impeachment case, then, doesn't HYPOCRISY characterize all these proceedings?   

NEVER SAY SOMETHING YOU MAY EAT BACK LATER

Sa impeachment hearing ni CJ Corona kahapon, Martes, ay may isang palasak na kawikaan na biglang sumagi sa aking isipan kahapon: "Iwasan mo, anya,  ang magsalita ng patapos, at baka subukan ka ng tadhana at ang iyong sinabi ay ikaw rin ang humimod."

Alam kong may katuwirang magalit si Senate President Enrile sa ginawang alleged walkout ni Corona after his testimony. Truth is, I appreciate Enrile's liberality in giving Corona all the time to go on and finish his long testimony, even if tatlong beses rin niyang sinabi, "matagal pa po ba 'yan, Chief Justice?" 

Si Defense chief counsel Cuevas ay gayon na lang ang paghingi ng patawad kay Enrile sa ginawa ni Corona, which later turned out to be at least a bit reasonable because he was not feeling well, as indeed when he was brought back to the session hall he was already on a wheel chair, very obviously "tuliro" at ewan ko kung narinig ang pagpapalitan ng salita ni Cuevas at Enrile.

In spite of what happened, I knew Enrile's respect for the Chief Justice remained unchanged, as it was Cuevas, not the Chief Justice, that he reprimanded.  When Enrile insisted that Corona come back to the session hall the following day  (meaning today) for cross-examination, Cuevas promised that provided Corona is mentally and physically able, he will bring him to the court.  That rather conditional guarantee was in my opinion only to be expected, given the reason for Coronal's alleged walkout: suddenly failing health.   But when Enrile said something like:  "No, you should bring him back to court at two o'clock tomorrow without fail, otherwise I will rule that his testimony be totally stricken off from the record,"  methinks nagsalita si Enrile nang patapos, na sa bandang huli ay siya rin ang humimod.

Bakit, kanyo?  Aba'y hindi nga ba't hindi nga nakabalik si |Corona kanina dahil na sa ICU pala sa Medical City?  Pero hindi rin nakuhang ipatupad ni Enrile  'yong kanyang matigas at patapos na sabing he would rule to totally expunge Corona's testimony.  Para sa akin, ano ba naman 'yong tinanggap na lang sana niya ang sinabi ni Cuevas na ibabalik niya si Corona provided the CJ was physically well? Di ba tama lang naman 'yong sinabi ni Cuevas under the circumstances?  Of course, I can understand ba nadala lang si Enrile ng kanyang emosyon, alam kong deep within him, he knows (though he will not admit it) that he had learned a lesson from what he said.

Sa kabilang dako, whether Corona's testimony is expunged or not from the court records, the senator-judges have already heard it, and it will remain in their minds and each one has every right to believe it or not.   I mean, at the end of the day, no one may ask any one of them if he considered or not Corona's testimony in his final verdict.  That is his, and totally his alone, to answer to his conscience and the people..

SANA MATAUHAN SI CJ

What happened today inside the impeachment court after the testimony of the CJ was truly unfortunate.
The CJ may have been emotional, but I think on the overall his testimony was OK and quite convincing as part as the truth behind his bank deposits and other charges were concerned.  Sa tingin ko, ni hindi niya kailangang mag-execute ng waiver, but even if he did, hindi dapat naging coniditional 'yong kanyang waiver sa pagpirma rin noong 188 congressmen  plus Sen. Drilon to themselves sign the same waiver.  I think most of the senators were convinced of the truth of what he said.  Sayang, in  requiring the prosecutors to also sign a waiver, lumabas na parang hindi siya Chief Justice.  At lalo na,  when he appeared to have walked out of the court after his testimony, na para bang he refused to be cross-examined.  With that, I have personally also lost my trust on him

I hope the CJ will realize that what he did was wrong, and if not managed well by his defense, might adversely seal his faith.  At any rate, I appreciate Enrile's liberality in agreeing to kind of  forget  what happened providing the CJ comes back tomorrow to be cross-examined.  I think the CJ has satisfactorily explained that his mere failure to fill up his SALN accurately was not really impeachable.  At the end of the day, the ultimate objective of the SALN is not as much its clerical accuracy as the fact that one has not enriched himself in public office.  I don't think, based on his testimony, that he did, and I believe he has convinced at least eight of the senators that he was not impeachable. 

But given  what he did, unless he is able to satisfactorily make amends for it and, barring truly valid health reasons,. return to the court for cross-examination, no one may already be blamed if he were adjudged guilty.  At the very least, with what he did, I wont blame people to think that he already forfeits his sheer right to remain Chief Justice. Still, I pray to God, matauhan sana si CJ.  

 

NEW TAX LAWS WILL NOT CURE OUR BUDGET DEFICITS

"BIR posts P197.8-billion budget surplus in April" -- news!  Ala eh, para sa akin, that is not news.  Hindi ba, such surpluses do happen come April every year, and for the very simple reason that we all pay our annual income taxes on April 15 each year.  This is no reason for the BIR to boast off.

As a matter of fact, even with that surplus, the government still had recorded a cumulative collection deficit of P2.9 billion for the period Jan to April.  So, that P2.9 budget will be added to the total budget for the year, and the sum will be what the government must collect for the period May to December. 

Again, sa isang bagong tax measure na naman nakatutok ang paningin ng BIR.  I mean, the new Sin Tax measure now in Congress.  But at best the proceeds from this new tax legislation will yet be collected next year, assuming it is passed this year.  Then, that Sin Tax proceeds will be added to the new tax budget na kailangang bunuin in 2013.  Aba, eh, paano na tayo makaka-ahon sa ating annual collection deficit.

Ergo, my thesis is:  New tax measures have never, and will never, retrieve us from annual budget deficit. Lagi na lang bagong buwis ang solusyon natin dito, pero taon-taon budget deficit pa rin tayo.  Ah, it's high time the gov't had learned of other cures to this problem.

LET THE TRUTH SET THE CJ FREE

Mamayang hapon, at two o'clock, the CJ will testify in his impeachment case.  Kagabi, before I slept, I prayed for him.

I know deep within me that Corona is innocent of the charges against him.  Sa tingin ko, si Corona ay parang isang tao na binato at sinabuyan ng putik ng kanyang mga kalaban, at pagkatapos ay biglang sinigawan: "Marumi ka, alis d'yan!"

Kailan nga ba nagsimula ang lahat ng ito.  Aba, eh, pag-upong-pag-upo ni :PNoy, na galit na galit at hindi naging kanya ang tsansa na mag-appoint ng bagong Chief Justice na kapalit ng nagretirong si former CJ Reynato Puno.  Midnight appointment daw.  Aba'y di nga ba napatunayan na hindi sakop ng midnight appointment ban ang Supreme Court, given the constitutional provision that the President must fill up any vacancy in the Supreme Court within 90 days after its occurence.  As a matter of fact, hindi nga ba't iniatras na ng prosecution ang kanilang charge on "midnight appointment" because they themselves realized that charge would not prosper?  At saka, D'yos ko naman, kung sakali ba'y sino ang nag-violate ng Constitution on the midnight appointment prohibition?  Di ba si Gloria, di naman si Corona.  Bakit kay Corona tayo galit?  Dahil ba hindi na natin puwedeng ipa-impeach si |Gloria?

At any rate, I believe the real truth will come out after Corona's testimony.  In the beginning, the government shouted its voices hoarse into the four winds that Corona had 45 properties not declared in his SALN.  Corona then countered he had only five.  O, di ba napatunatyan nang the prosecutions numbers were a big lie.  Now, the Ombudsman says the CJ had more than $10-million US dollars in the bank, consisting of 82 accounts.  The CJ says that's a "lantern of lies".  I am sure the CJ's testimony will once again reveal the real truth. That truth will set not only the CJ free; but also PNoy's government free from their false accusations from the very outset.