Roxas shopping for mate
07/05/2009 It took all of six short months for the United States justice system to dispose of the disgraced New York investment banker Bernard Madoff who for some five decades maintained a Ponzi business that reportedly bilked at least $50 billion (or about P2.5 trillion which is more than twice the budget of the Philippine government) from thousands of unsuspecting clients who had entrusted him with their life savings blinded by the juicy monthly dividends he had assured them.
In a much-awaited ruling handed down the other week, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan Federal Court threw the kitchen sink at the much-loathed conman and sentenced him to 150 years in prison which was six times longer than the prison terms meted out to the chief executives of Enron and WorldCom, two of the more spectacular business failures in the last decade attended by fraud. For all intents, this means the 71-year-old former Nasdaq chairman will most certainly die in his solitary jail cell, since there is no commutation of sentence for inmates in the Manhattan federal prison, for engineering the "staggering fraud" that reduced a great many closet millionaires to penury, and in some cases drove them to commit suicide.
Aside from the virtual death sentence, Madoff was ordered by the court to forfeit some $171 billion in properties and proceeds, wherever they can be found, to help repay what he had swindled from friends and acquaintances.
Here in the Philippines, Lady Justice doesn’t work that fast, to the extent that literally thousands of crimes go unpunished each year because people are so disillusioned with the snail’s pace that cases are decided that they are hesitant to go to court to get the just deserts they deserve.
One prime example of such foot-dragging is the case of Celso de los Angeles of the Legacy Group of Companies (which included the pre-need firm Legacy Plans) who, together with several of his key officers, stands accused of also duping more than 50,000 depositors, investors and clients of his various companies (while the Security and Exchange Commission just looked on) of an estimated P25 billion.
From what we hear, after more than eight months of legal wrangling, the case against the Legacy Plans owner is still on square one (aside from the dozens of others that remain mired on the level of the fiscals) after the Department of Justice suspended the preliminary investigation of the estafa raps against De los Angeles due to the failure of the complainants to pay the P1.9-million filing fee, which is based on their total claims of P191.9 million. The DoJ said the litigants aren’t exempted from the payment of filing fees because they are not indigents as provided in DoJ circular No. 42.
q q q
"You can choose your friends, but not your relatives" or so the saying goes.
To his utter disdain, Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga is finding out the hard way there is a grain of truth to this old adage following the arrest of an alleged notorious drug dealer the other week by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) during a buy-bust operation involving P100,000 worth of shabu (or methamphetamine hydrochloride) that was found in his possession.
Tinga, who is widely credited with the metamorphosis of Taguig from a sleepy backwater town to the bustling metropolis it is today, is getting a lot of flak these days because of claims of PDEA Director Dionisio Santiago that the suspect, a certain Joel Tinga, is his (the mayor’s) distant cousin.
While he didn’t categorically refute Santiago’s allegation, Tinga lauded the arrest of the suspected drug pusher, saying no one is above the law, and urged authorities to throw everything at him including the kitchen sink even if he is indeed a relative.
Tinga’s political foes were naturally quick to pounce on the rare chance to revel in his misfortunes over the illegal drug issue. Especially since the 2010 polls are just around the corner and the Taguig mayoralty race, so to speak, is wide open because Tinga is hamstrung from seeking re-election due to a constitutional provision.
History appears to be on their side. During the past 12 years, according to existing records, there have been a total of six persons arrested in Taguig by the police on drug raps, all surnamed "Tinga."
In 1996, one Hector Tinga was formally brought to court, but the case against him was later dropped due to insufficiency of evidence. His co-accused Arnel Montano, however, was meted a life term for being caught in possession of 229 grams of shabu.
In January 2007, a Bernardo Tinga was taken into custody for alleged drug pushing; and several months later the PDEA also apprehended Fernando Tinga, Allan Tinga and Alberto Tinga for similar offenses. And the last one was Joel Tinga.
But to be fair, Mayor Tinga should now grab the opportunity to ensure that his legacy of good governance he will be leaving behind when he steps down from office next year remains unblemished. This he can do by motu propio going hammer and thongs against the drug dealers who appear to be operating with impunity inside city limits (in many plush nightspots inside the Fort like the Embassy) be they relatives or not, and take up the challenge thrown to him by Gen. Dionisio Santiago for more backbone in the drive to finally putting a stop to the illegal drugs business flourishing therein.
q q q
Sen. Mar Roxas, the anointed standard bearer of the Liberal Party (not the Atienza wing) for the 2010 polls, is said to be expanding his search for a suitable running mate who would complement his campaign to bag the presidency of the Republic of the Philippines.
From what we were told, one of those being considered by Roxas’ handlers is (would you believe?) Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of Interior and Local Government due to his reputation as a brilliant political strategist as well as a seasoned administrator by virtue of his more than two decades in the government service.
Of course it didn’t escape their attention that Puno was one of those instrumental in the respective victories of FVR in 1992, Erap Estrada in 1998 and GMA in 2004.
Puno had previously indicated he is interested in running for vice president in the coming elections, naturally under the banner of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD, but sources say this isn’t a certainty as the choice of the presidential and vice presidential standard bearers is still to be determined by Mrs. Arroyo’s think tank in Malacañang, led by political adviser Gabby Claudio, in consultation with party leaders.
Should Puno fail to realize his dream with the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, I’m sure nobody will take it against him if he seeks glory in the bosom of others who’re willing to take him into their fold.
Roxas was reported to have sent feelers to colleague Sen. Panfilo Lacson about the possibility of running for vice president in the Liberal Party ticket right after the latter had suddenly relinquished all his presidential ambitions.
But while Lacson may be a popular politician, he does come with lot of baggage, having been implicated in the grisly Kuratong Baleleng rubout case in 1995 while he was the head of Task Force Habagat of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, and the Dacer-Corbito double murder which occurred in 2000.  Back to top
For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006
| |
