Cancelling Clark

"EMIRATES CAN confirm that it is suspending its daily, non-stop service between Clark International Airport and Dubai from 1st May 2014. The decision was made after a review of the airline’s operations to ensure the best utilisation of its aircraft fleet for its overall business objectives.”

Direct from Doha, Qatar, straight out of a story in Gulf Times bylined Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter, did I get my first read of the decision of Emirates Airlines to stop operating at the CIA. Joey, if you still recall, was Punto! editor, the first one, before love summoned him to come and live in the gulf state.

Anyways, what was couched in diplomatese in that statement from the Emirates spokesman was translated in the local press – in all brutal frankness – to low passenger volume, stiff competition and the excise tax on jet fuel for international flights as the reasons for Emirates cancelling out Clark.

Reasons unquestionably acceptable, were it Asian Spirit or Zest Air or Seair, or even AirAsia Philippines doing the decamping. As indeed, they all did.

Reasons really incredible, given Emirates’ global stature – “one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has received more than 500 international awards for excellence and has over nine million members worldwide of Skywards, the airline’s frequent flyer program…flies to 134 destinations in 76 countries and operates 203 wide-bodied Airbus and Boeing aircraft…has orders for an additional 190 aircraft, worth more than USD$71 billion…holds an impressive array of prestigious awards most recently including, the ‘Best Airline Food and Wine’ by Frequent Business Traveler and the highly coveted 2013 ‘World’s Best Airline’ award presented by Skytrax...etcetera”

An airline CV that really shocks and awes. So that at the press launch of Emirates’ Dubai-Clark-Dubai flight only last October 1, Business Mirror’s Joey Pavia was nearly laughed out of the air-conditioned, carpeted tent at Holiday Inn-Clark’s parking lot when he asked Mohammed Mattar, Emirates divisional senior vice president: “How deep is your pocket? Will you not pull out (of Clark) once your planes fly way below their passenger capacities?”    

No straight answer given as we heard Mr. Mattar tell the story of Emirates’ maiden flight to Mumbai with only five passengers and the low, low pax volume in the succeeding flights, only to culminate to the now fully booked, five-times-daily  Dubai-Mumbai flights.  

As it was in Mumbai, so it shall be in Clark, Mr. Mattar so implied. And leaving no space for doubt, sayeth thus: "We are sure that we will do good in Clark after many studies in the market. We are not worried and we will do good here in Clark just like in Manila."

Confidence certified by Gigie Baroa, Emirates Philippines country manager: “The renewed and increased economic activity and the positive future of tourism up north of Metro Manila make investors bullish about investing.”

Bullish as the airline can ever be, with the a great percentage of the OFWs scattered all over the Middle East coming from these parts, thus Baroa: “We at Emirates have always seen the need of our kababayans from Northern and Central Luzon who have to travel three or more hours just to get to Manila. So we decided to open up a new hub at Clark International Airport. Whether they are business savvy individuals or OFWs, they are now assured of the convenience of our flights through our new route.”

Low passenger volume now? What happened to Emirates’ “many studies in the market”?

And while at it, did those studies fail to consider too the excise tax on jet fuel for international flights, another reason given for Emirates getting out of Clark?

The (in)validity of that (un)reason is like sieve holding water: Ain’t that excise tax imposed on NAIA-based airlines too?

A smartass of a pal even advanced some perceived advantage to Emirates over other airlines when it comes to jet fuel: “As Emirates enjoys Dubai’s oil, so its fuel expenses are half of those other airlines, having to pay for gas only in its destination.”      

And with Emirates having the Dubai-Clark-Dubai route all to itself, where’s the stiff competition? From the Ninoy Aquino International Airport? Ain’t happening here given Baroa’s point of “our kababayans from Northern and Central Luzon who have to travel three or more hours just to get to Manila.”  

Baroa, we learned some months back, had ceased connections with Emirates. It should have rung alarm bells at the Clark International Airport Corp. but it did not. Only last February 27, CIAC sent photo releases of its officials led by President-CEO Victor Jose I. Luciano warmly welcoming Emirates new Area Manager Abdallah Alzamani at their corporate offices. Absolutely not the slightest inkling of the impending Emirates departure then.

No surprise there really, as cluelessness is Luciano’s very defining character as overlord of the CIA.

In January 2012, Luciano hyped his push for “a new P12-billion budget terminal” with a paean to Tony Fernandes’ airline thus: “AirAsia is seen to carry some 800,000 passengers every year and an additional increase of 500,000 each year. AirAsia alone is expecting to have five million passengers out of Clark in the next four years.”  

Four years? In 2013, AirAsia pulled out of Clark to hub at the NAIA.

In April 2013, Luciano announced the expansion of the airport terminal to start on May 15 would be completed by September – of the same year – in time for the launch of the Emirates flights. Emirates has come and will soon be gone, but the expansion is still on-going.

At the launch of Tigerair Phils.’ Clark-Davao-Clark route only last December, Luciano was asked how viable has Clark remained in the wake of AirAsia Phil’s pull-out. His snap-of-the-finger answer: “Take a look at Tigerair.”  

Recently, the water district convention in Davao drew a number of delegates from Central and Northern Luzon to Clark for booking with Tigerair, only to roar in disappointment when they were bused to NAIA and flew from there.

And Cebu Pacific has since absorbed Tigerair Phils.    

Wonder now where Luciano will point to look if ever asked how viable has Clark  remained in the wake of Emirates’ pull-out.

Come to think of it, where the journalist Pavia has prescience – having asked too AirAsia Phils if it was abandoning Clark at the time of its merger with Zest Air – Luciano has only feigned innocence…okay, apparent ignorance, over the workings in the aviation industry. And Luciano says he’s an old hand in it, having come from Asiana Airlines!

There lies irony.       

Thumbed tax

A WHOPPING P21 billion. That is the target collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from Central Luzon this year.

Easy as easy can be. What with almost half the target – P10 billion – eyed from Pampanga alone!

A solid testimony there to the economic pre-eminence of Pampanga in the region, a resounding affirmation of its permanent niche among the top provinces of the Philippines. No less than the National Statistical Coordination Board has declared  Pampanga as among the 10 most developed provinces in the country, with total investments pegged at P95 billion in 2012, some 76 percent of the investments in Central Luzon.

It comes all-too-naturally consequential then for the BIR to ask Gov. Lilia G. Pineda to be poster baby to its tax collection campaign dubbed “I Love the Philippines, I Pay My Taxes Right, It’s As Easy as RFP.” The acronym meaning Register, File and Pay.

That role taken to the hilt by the governor at the campaign launch in SM City Pampanga last week.

“Pampanga is continuously growing in business and other areas crucial to nation-building,” Pineda said, as she underscored the concomitant responsibility of the citizenry to this growth through the on-time payment of the right taxes.

And thereby appealed to one and all to support the BIR to achieve – mayhaps, even surpass – its P10-billion collection target for Pampanga.

Along that direction, the governor first directed local government officials in the entire province to join hands with the BIR in convincing businesses to update their tax accounts. 
Second, Pineda directly called on the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PamCham), prominently represented in the event by its president, Jim Jimenez, to serve as the template to all business groups in paying their taxes correctly and on time. 

Aye, the governor hit the bull’s eye there: PamCham boasting of 498 business establishments running the gamut of industry, commerce, finance, trade and services. PamCham veritably a social registry of Pampanga’s Who’s Who.

Why, if the premium placed by PamCham’s most prominent members on their corporate and individual images – read: swanky offices, swankier cars – Benzes and BMWs, Audis and Range Rovers – were just at par with the fulfilment of their tax obligations, easily three quarters of the P10 billion collection target would be most satisfactorily met.

At the launch of the BIR Revenue Region 4’s 2014 tax campaign and information drive last February, Regional Director Araceli L. Francisco bamboozled the media with various ways, means and mechanisms singularly targeting the goal of P21-billion tax collection for the region.

There were – hold your breath now – the Online System for Transfer Tax Transactions (OST3); eCAR or Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration; eTIS or Electronic Tax Information Systems; IRSIS or Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System; RATE for the invigorated Run After Tax Evaders program;  Oplan Kandado; the Integrity Management Program (IMP);  the Re-engineering of other Business Processes; eORB for Electronic Official Registry Book; e-Linkage with the Bureau of Treasury; the Automated Revenue Allotment Computation; the Forfeited Asset Management System; the Automated Issuance of Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes; Online Accreditation of Importers and Brokers; the Online System for Accreditation of Printers which is part of the Taxpayer Registration Information Update; the Electronic BIR Forms (eBIR Forms); the Strategic Performance Management System; the Workflow Management System, the Exchange of Information Program; the Procurement, Payment, Inventory and Distribution Monitoring System; and the Career Pathing.
Gasp, gasp, gasp. Still, all bases not only covered but loaded there, and the BIR poised to hit a home run.

So no need for the campaign of shame on tax evaders here in Pampanga then.

How about a hall of fame instead – the top 20 taxpayers in the categories of business and individuals in Pampanga – published in all local papers and broadcast in all radio and television stations in the province.

The business category may even be segmented further to realtors, hotels and motels, manufacturers, restaurants, car dealers, hardware and lumber, etcetera.

The individual category to lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, teachers, etcetera.

The BIR may even find treasures to dig here. For by the amount they pay in taxes, Pampanga’s elite will be made to justify the all-too ostentatious display of their wealth.

Only P10 billion target tax collection for Pampanga? No sweat.

       

Ethics of the pressed

“THE PAYOFFS, in the guise of ‘advertising expenses,’ included prominent broadcast journalists.”

Thus, the Philippine Daily Inquirer headlined Wednesday, March 19, promptly naming TV5 news anchor Erwin Tulfo and dzBB talk show host Carmelo del Prado Magdurulang, as “allegedly among the beneficiaries of the diversion of congressional allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) coursed through state-owned National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) and subsequently to ghost projects of bogus foundations, according to checks and accompanying documents made available to the Inquirer.”

The checks – numbers, amount and banks drawn from – allegedly issued to Tulfo and Magdurulang were cited in the Inquirer report.

Even as both journalists denied the accusations – Tulfo even threatening to file a libel case against the Inquirer – their respective networks have said they will undertake their own investigations.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines has gone even further, raising the issue to the higher ground of ethics and professionalism.

We fully subscribe and submit ourselves to the NUJP aspiration as expressed in its statement of March 20, 2014 signed by Chair Rowena C. Paraan, to wit:

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is concerned about the allegations of corruption in media raised by an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on how pork barrel funds were supposedly funnelled off through the National Agribusiness Corp.

We will withhold comment on the specific allegations to allow those accused the opportunity to present their side as well as for the Inquirer to present more definitive evidence to back up the allegations raised.

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that probably the most common criticism against the Philippine media has always had to do with the perceived lack of ethics and professionalism among journalists.

In fact, some quarters have gone so far as to cite these shortcomings to explain, if not justify, why media killings persist, as if corruption deserved a death sentence.

Nevertheless, it is perhaps time that the issue of ethics and professionalism – or the lack thereof – in the Philippine media is discussed openly and honestly, and, more importantly, addressed decisively. 

However, we hope that any discussion of ethics and professionalism shall encompass all aspects of the media industry as a whole and not be limited only to weeding out individual offenders.

After all, for all its virtues and faults, the Philippine media is a reflection of the society from which it springs and which it claims to serve.

Thus, any examination of ethics and professionalism should take into account as well the ownership and management patterns that exist in the media and how these, more often than not, play a major role in why journalists – from beat reporters to editors – fall astray. This is as true in Metro Manila, where practitioners earn substantially more, as in the provinces, where many journalists toil under difficult working conditions for wages below even the legal minimum.

We also fervently hope that the discourse on ethics does not descend into a mindless witch-hunt or be exploited by the enemies of a free and independent press to tarnish a profession that, for all its blemishes, still remains one of the Filipino citizens’ strongest defenses against those who habitually abuse their powers and privileges.

Indeed, as Jefferson wrote: “To the press alone, checquered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.”

Alibi as apology

"I APOLOGIZE if we could not act even faster but given what we had, were not present when it hit your region. In anything else we are also students... and we want to do better next time, but again that shouldn't have been the case."

No, he did not say “I am sorry,” as his predecessor so ingloriously did in the wake of the Hello-Garci controversy.

Still, the response of President BS Aquino III to a Tacloban student during an open forum at the Hope Christian High School in Manila has been considered, even hailed, as an apology – the first time he made one since Supertyphoon Yolanda  struck the country four months ago.

It could have been the very first time in his entire gifted life, thus, a “rare apology,” chorused media. But is it really?

So BS Aquino III admitted that it shouldn't have taken the government days to respond but the extent of the Yolanda devastation was “unprecedented,” what with four million families and 44 out of 81 provinces affected.

Now, hear BS Aquino III’s soundbytes:

"[The] magnitude, I think, is unprecedented in our history and if I am not mistaken, this is the biggest storm to make landfall anywhere in the world…

"Everything was down... cellphones, etcetera.... Even the equipment whether it's heavy equipment, whether it's trucks, whether it was police vehicles, what have you, were also hit…

"Leyte is an island. We will have to either get to the sea ports or the airport and the airport is the fastest. The airport itself was heavily damaged. So you had to clear that before we could bring in the aircraft…

"We have to rely on the local government unit to provide the backbone. They will tell us who is in need, where, what is needed and 'di ba parang even just knowing who the people we will have to work with. [But] that was not existent Sunday, Saturday…

"Two hundred ninety policemen were supposed to be in Tacloban City alone. They actually had 20 on duty. Everybody else attended to something else. They are all being investigated. We [had] to bring in soldiers and policemen from other areas…”

Where’s the apology there?

It is a rambling (ir)rationalization of the Aquino administration’s inhered inanity, ineptitude, inaction in addressing any crisis, big and small, it faces. Outsourcing the blame instead to some poor hapless LGUs connected, by party or family, to presidential pet peeves.       

A sorry excuse for an apology, as the wife says. Least apology, mostly alibi there.

Rightfully and rightly, the Yolanda victims did not buy.

“President Aquino’s ‘apology’ seems to try to get away with his arrogant refusal to take responsibility for four months of hell for the Yolanda survivors.” So articulated Efleda Bautista, a typhoon survivor and convenor of the People Surge alliance, the victims collective rejection of BS Aquino III’s un-sorry.

“The ‘apology’ is not even directed to us, the survivors, who went to Malacanang in February and got snubbed by the President 100 days after Yolanda struck the region. Yolanda victims have been starving and dying as a result of this government’s ineptness and gross negligence and all he could say was ‘sorry’?” Bautista raged.

No, Madame, he did not even say “sorry.”

Much less extend comforting words any.

And bodies are still turning up in Leyte this late in the day.  

Offload overload

FLYING CEBPAC to Phuket with the boys this weekend.

The excitement boils over the prospects of at last getting to Phang Nga Bay and going 007, yeah, as in “Bond, James Bond” in the eponymous island popularised in the Roger Moore starrer The Man with the Golden Gun. Wishfully with as much luck as Her Majesty’s secret agent with all those girls in those itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie not necessarily yellow polka dot bikinis.

Ah, the life – oyni’ng bie, as Deng Pangilinan is wont to shout.

Only to be brought down to earth by this piece of news – really now, no news is good news: BI requires all tourists proof of financial capability to travel

Travel-loving cash-challenged newsmen, beware:

“From now on, no Filipino travelling as tourist will be allowed to leave the country unless he can show proof of financial capability to travel, proof of work and financial support from benefactors.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday (March 14) issued strict guidelines designed to deter the exodus of undocumented Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) by making the said blanket requirement for all who travel as tourists.”

So should we be bringing to the airport our latest bank statements, car registrations, land titles as “proof of financial capability to travel”?

This sounds more like applying for a US visa. 

Should we also take with us, in addition to our press IDs, our contracts of employment, SSS or GSIS cards, our latest pay slips as “proof of work”?

This sounds more like getting a dreaded date with Kim Henares.

And a certification too from whoever is sponsoring our trip, down to those who handed us the usual pabaon?

Now, this is more like channelling the Yolanda victims after a Dinky Soliman debriefing.   

No, the BI did not specify what concrete proofs tourists needed to present at their counters to allow seamless passage to the airport tubes.

However one looks at it though, the BI order infringes on the fundamental right to travel, to wit: Section 6, Article III – The Bill of Rights of the Philippine Constitution states “…Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.” No clause there on financial interest, see?

The explosion of netizens’ outrage slammed the brakes on the BI overdrive, forcing it to full reverse.

On Saturday, abs-cbnnews.com headlined No need to prove financial capacity when traveling abroad, BI says

“Filipinos who wish to travel abroad either as tourists or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are not required to show proof of financial capacity before they are allowed to leave, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) clarified on Saturday.

In a statement, BI chief Siegfred Mison said financial capacity is not a requisite before a citizen is allowed to enter or leave the country…

Those who wish to travel abroad only need to present their complete travel documents, particularly their passport and other documents issued by a foreign country such as a tourist or working visa, before they are allowed to leave…

He said a Filipino citizen who will travel abroad as a tourist must present complete documents such as his airplane ticket, which is usually a two-way or round trip ticket, an authentic passport, and a proof that he has a place to stay in the country where he intends to go.

CebPac eticket, check. Passport, check. Sunset Beach Resort 316/2 Phrabaramee Road, T. Patong, A. Kathu, Phuket 83150, Tel.+66 76 342 482, check.

Hurrah! Phuket, here we come!

According to Mison, a person may only be asked to present further proof as to the reason for his travel abroad if he appears to have a different reason other than what he has declared before an immigration official.

Ay, there’s the rub, highlighted, for effect.

For one, appearances are deceiving. The very financially able Deng Pangilinan prefers very pedestrian, even campesino, get-up of shirts, shorts and slippers in his periodic tours of Asia. So that makes a fake tourist and a prospective undocumented OFW out of him?

Two, the deceivers make appearances of upholding the law. When in fact it is some quick buck they’re withholding from their offloaded victims. The BI has not exactly come off clean as Caesar’s wife in the public eye. 

Yeah, as the BI is not exactly money-proofed, what right has it to ask the proof of money from every traveller under pain of being offloaded?

Offloading, Mison says, “is not a policy but a consequence of the implementation of the Guidelines." Referring to the "Guidelines on Departure Formalities for Internationally Bound Passengers," he said was formulated by a technical working group in accordance with Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, and approved by the Department of Justice, with effectivity starting in January 2012.

In effect, Mison said, offloading is some preventive measure locked on Filipinos that leave the country posing as tourists but with the intention of looking for work in the country where they intend to go.

"We don't offload people just because we want to. It's a bitter pill that we have to swallow because we want to protect our fellow Filipinos."

The portal where this story appeared nearly got an overload from netizens crying they’ve been arbitrarily offloaded. And I readily join their cry, having experienced this first hand. As I’ve written here of my son Jonathan offloaded at the Clark International Airport on his return flight to Hong Kong in August 2012:

The Bi agents asked Jonathan the purpose of his travel.

Jonathan said he worked in Hong Kong and just had a vacation here.

Proof of employment?

Jonathan presented 1) his contract with Manulife Financial (Hong Kong) as actuarial specialist “on loan” from Manulife Philippines, his principal employer, and 2) his Hong Kong resident ID card.

In a previous vacation, only last April, those documents were enough for immigration to stamp his passport, allowing him to fly.

But not this time. The immigration agent asked him to produce his Manulife Philippines ID which Jonathan had to retrieve from his checked-in luggage.

So, that ID was presented. Only for Jonathan to be told that he needed some “OEC” from the POEA. This, as some positive confirmation of his work contract kuno.

End result: No flight.     

So, since when was this OEC from POEA made a requisite for travel abroad?

So why didn’t the immigration agents just tell my son of that requirement at the onset?

If this is not harassment, it could only be idiocy.

So what is this Mison saying again?

"Under our BI C.A.R.E.S (Courtesy-Accountability-Responsibility-Efficiency-Service) Program, we want our countrymen to understand that there is no reason to fear us, in fact they can ask us for advice on how to legitimize their travel and we will be happy to help."

Per experience, actual and virtual, the more appropriate acronym is BI S.C.A.R.E (Bureau of Immigration: Scheming-Cantankerous-Arrogant-Rapacious-Employees).

Living the Word

AT 77 last Sunday, March 9, the Most Rev. Paciano B. Aniceto is two years past the age of retirement for Church prelates.

That he remains the shepherd of the Kapampangan faithful can only be divinely ordained.

Apu Ceto makes that classic definition of the priest that impacted me on my very first day at the Mater Boni Consilii Seminary eons ago – “the best gift of God to men, the best gift of men to God.”

He simply lives the Word. So that hearing him is ever a renewal in faith. Like that time in 2003 when I accompanied him in his pastoral visit to California.

“The two priceless treasures of our people, coveted by other peoples… undiminished in value even through our worst economic dislocation,” Apu Ceto says of faith and family as the defining character of the Filipino.
Live the faith. Love the family. That was the message he brought to the hundreds of Filipinos who came to his Masses. A message that reached out to, and touched  Americans and Latinos too.      

“Modernism and materialism, especially in wealthy America, besiege increasingly the very foundation of the Filipino-American family. Against this onslaught, we need to return to our core values and be steadfast in our Christian faith to prevail.”
Apu Ceto refreshed the congregations with the Filipino core values grounded on Christian virtues – of respect for human life, love for the elders, the bayanihan culture of sharing and malasakit, and family prayer, especially to those already born in America.

And anathematized abortion and euthanasia as “pillars of the culture of death…high crimes against the family and against God.”
“The baby and the elderly are integral elements in the nucleus of the Filipino family. Take them out, fission ensues, and the nucleus suffers a total breakdown.”
In a clear jab at the pro-choice lobby in the US: “The baby in the womb is not a simple choice. It is a human being created in God’s own image and likeness and therefore should come into the world to fulfil God’s plan for him. Man has no business playing God, usurping His power over life and death.”
Of love and respect of the elderly: “Filipino culture puts premium in the wisdom of age. Thus, we take good care of our elders, never treating them like overused rags fit only to be shut in some retirement home, left to die alone, and as fast forgotten.”
And recalled the attendant promise of a blessed long life for those who subscribe to the Fourth Commandment – “Honor thy father and thy mother” – “so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land.” So the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians. So it was written in Exodus 20:12. So it has become Apu Ceto’s apostolate too. 

Prayer

And then there was his birthday celebration six years ago – also a Sunday – distinguished – graced, I cannot force myself to write – by the presence of Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the Reverend Governor Eddie T. Panlilio, Congressman Dong Gonzales, City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, and a host of other politicians and local leaders.

“If we really pray together, (we would discern that) one cannot monopolize truth. Truth begins in the heart, the sanctuary of our conscience.” Apu Ceto’s sermon searing the very soul of the congregation.

“We need to purify and change. If we follow that process, we will have a peaceful and just society with integrity. You should watch and pray that you don’t fall into temptation.”
He did not have to say it. Apu Ceto could only mean the temptation of corruptive power – for those in government, that which denies the people of their right to live with human dignity.
Warning: “Our country is at a crossroad. We are a divided people, eternally quarreling, bickering. Some media contribute to this. We are falling into the pit.” Ouch!
And pointing the way: “We are asking the Lord to permeate every strata of society. Families and leaders should work so there is a holistic approach in the search for a real, authentic, common good, for the progress and development of our people.”
Ora et labora. Pray and work. Christian life at its most essential.
“Let us pray together, discern together so that we could know the will of God for the Filipino people.” 
He lives the Word. He is a sermon we see, we feel, and – prayerfully – we live. Apu Ceto – blessed are we.

Delfin Lee: In the best of times

BACK TO the domain where he once lorded as the housing king.

Not to the triumphant sound of trumpets this time though, but to the sound of police sirens. Not to a welcoming gilded throne but to an iron-barred cell.

Yes, it was not too long ago that everything about Delfin Lee was celebratory, chronicled in the local media – Punto! not excluded – most dutifully.

AUGUST 2008. “Xevera is the best thing that happened to Bacolor, getting richer not just in terms of income but pride and honor as well.” 
So lauded Mayor Romeo Dungca at the turn-over ceremony of the Xevera housing project in Barangay Calbutbut presided over by Vice President Noli De Castro and Globe Asiatique’s Delfin Lee in the presence of Pag-IBIG President-CEO Atty. Miro Quimbo.    
“This project gives a chance to poor people to own their own houses at very beautiful site,” furthered Dungca.  
JANUARY 2009. “This is a phenomenom. I haven’t seen one quite like this in the whole country.” 
Thus said Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, chair of the House of Representatives committee on housing and urban development, as he toured the Xevera housing project in Barangay Tabun, Mabalacat.

“This (Xevera) should be imitated by other developers,” said Valencia, who himself is in the real estate business.  

JANUARY 2009. “Bili na kayo. P5,000 lang a month at walang down payment.”
A jovial President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called out as she inspected three townhouses at the P6-billion Xevera housing project in Barangay Tabun. She first graced the Lakas-CMD caucus at Holiday Inn Resort-Clark before proceeding to the new P70-million Mabalacat town hall donated by Xevera developer Delfin Lee of Globe Asiatique. 
“They’re beautiful and affordable,” Arroyo told Lee and Subic Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC) Chairman Sec. Edgardo  Pamintuan as they went inside the two-storey houses costing about P5,000 a month through Pag-Ibig funds. 
“Ah, simbahan ya pala (oh, it’s a church),” said the beaming President as she took notice of the Sanctuario de San Angelo. 
Arroyo, wearing a red dress, witnessed Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales hand over to Lee a resolution making him “adopted son of Mabalacat for his immense contribution to the development of the first class municipality.” 

APRIL 2009. Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC) Chair Edgardo Pamintuan described Lee as “a silent developer, unassuming and self-effacing.” He added that as a friend, “Lee won’t forget you.” 
Deng Pangilinan, two-time president of the Pampanga Press Club (PPC), said Lee is a “decent man who has genuine heart for the poor.” He was one of the Pampanga mediamen who was able to own a house at Xevera. 
“It’s a dream come true for the press to have houses oftheir own. It took a private individual to make that possible,” said Pangilinan. 
MAY 2009. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus led the turnover of the P100 million integrated school at Xevera housing project in Barangay Tabun, bolstering this town’s commitment to provide free quality education.
Lapus, Xevera Developer Delfin Lee, ABS-CBN executive Gina Lopez and other regional Department of Education (DepEd) officials signed the deed of donation for the school named after Asuncion Lee, mother of Delfin. 
Lapus expressed elation over the “beautiful school,” saying as if “you are in California when you are in Xevera.”
In his speech, Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales said the “school will further make education readily available in our beloved town. He added that “education is the key to success.”   
JUNE 2009. A housing subdivision recently cited by the United Nations and government officials for plotting the template of urban development in the country, was once again mentioned as the number one factor in the 92 percent growth rate of the housing loan take-out of Pag-IBIG Fund in Northern and Central Luzon.
“It’s unprecedented,” said newly appointed Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Jaime Fabiaña during an interview with journalists at the Developers’ Forum of the Pag-IBIG Fund Home Development Mutual Fund held at the Holiday Land function hall in the City of San Fernando.
Fabiaña, who gave the opening remarks during the forum, said the Xevera housing projects in Bacolor and Mabalacat in Pampanga have greatly contributed to the rise in their housing loan takeout. 
“Saan ka makakakita ng subdivision na kumpleto?” Mayroon nang eskuwelahan, munisipyo, palengke at iba pa,” Fabiaña said. 
When asked why Vice President Noli De Castro who is also the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) seems to be favoring Xevera, Fabiaña said the vice president gives his blessings to all housing development projects in the country and not just Xevera. 
He said Pag-IBIG Fund has nearly cleansed its list of erring developers which had earlier caused troubles to house buyers and delinquent payers. 
Fabiaña praised Xevera for a having a “buy-back” program of five years instead of only two years. He explained that Xevera is classified under window number one where processing is done much less because of its proven track-record and reputation…

Arguably, the supreme accolade given to Delfin Lee came from this paper which around 2009 too came out with:

Pampanga’s new patron: San Delfin de Xevera
THERE MAY be no “Delfin” entered as yet in the Calendar of Saints of the Roman Catholic Church but already a San Delfin de Xevera is enshrined in the hearts of many Kapampangans.
Hear Mabalacat Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales speak of Delfin Lee and come to the conclusion that, indeed, the man – Delfin, not Boking – has met the full measure of miracles requisite to a canonization.
“Delfin Lee is the greatest miracle that has ever happened to my town. See how he transformed the howling wilderness of lahar that is Barangay Tabun, into the bustling, cosmopolitan community that is Xevera-Mabalacat,” the mayor said in awe.
“There is inherent goodness in his heart, so manifest in his willingness to invest, not only his material resources, but his very self in uplifting the dignity of his fellowmen, most especially the small people. When you come to think of it, isn’t that what sainthood is all about, the giving of self for others?” 
On Delfin Lee, the very secular, even bohemian Boking suddenly turns theological! Isn’t this a miracle in itself?
On a purely secular level now is Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin speaking: “If there is one person that can help uplift the lives of Filipinos by solving the problem of informal settlers in the country, that will be Delfin Lee.”
The scion of Pampanga’s landed gentry could only gush in admiration: “I am also a developer but with what Delfin Lee did to Xevera, he upped the ante, making it a difficult challenge for us to emulate.”
In his column Etcetera in the weekly Banner, Emilio Sese-Cruz had this to say in the piece headlined “Only Xevera, only Delfin Lee,” to wit: “Delfin Lee never ceases to cause wonder. No, make that awe…This is one guy who has redefined the whole concept, and practice, of land development.
Where other developers simply build houses, Delfin Lee – ALONE – builds communities. Not just communities, mind you, but total communities not simply meeting the needs of the inhabitants, but respecting, if not uplifting, their very dignity.” 
A tough act to follow indeed! 
For no less than the United Nations recognized the Xevera projects as “the template for urban development” and Delfin Lee as “a developer who, through harmonious relationships among the private sector, government sector, and various non-government organizations, has come up with a sustainable project that will help decongest highly-urbanized areas.”
Of deeper appreciation for Delfin Lee’s vision, mission and initiatives than that stated in the UN citation is the fact that he built his templates upon virtual wastelands – Calibutbut in Bacolor which may not have been swamped in the lahar rampages but was not spared from the heavy ashfall of the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions, and now, Tabun in Mabalacat which – true to its Kapampangan name – was indeed buried in lahar. A missionary spirit obtains in Delfin Lee there, treading – so to speak – where even angels feared to tread. So how many missionaries have become saints?    
A church builder, Delfin Lee is too – the place of worship ever at the center of the communities he builds: Sanctuario de San Miguel in Xevera-Bacolor, and Sanctuario de San Angelo in Xevera-Mabalacat, which immediately upon completion of construction are turned over to Mother Church, with deeds of donation to the Archdiocese of San Fernando (Pampanga).
In early medieval times, Delfin Lee’s church-building efforts would have easily merited a cardinal’s hat for him, and a sure beatification.
That’s too far-off an era now, and Delfin Lee would be the first to disavow any claim to holiness.
The accolades heaped upon him, Delfin Lee accepts with all humility, and considers them as challenges for him to do even better: “We feel honored (by the recognition). These will further inspire us to provide optimum services for the betterment of the lives of Filipinos.”        
As a Punto! editorial once concluded: “More than a field of dreams – remember that line, “Build it and they will come”? – Delfin Lee has made that cherished dream of every Filipino – to have a house of his own – come to full realization. And more – a home in a community befitting of human dignity.”
Fittingly then – even unbeatified and uncanonized and therefore without the reverential “San” before his name, Delfin Lee of Xevera is enshrined in every heart in every one of those homes. 
xxxxxxxx

AND THEN, **it happened. Even saints had feet of clay.

Sic transit gloria mundi. The glory of the world passing in a blinding flash.      

Oca's vindication

“I AM vindicated.”

Quoted Sun-Star Pampanga’s very headline recently of defeated 3^rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales over the dismissal by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal of the electoral protest he lodged against his nemesis, Rep. Oscar S. Rodriguez.

Which led to readers wondering over the state of emotional, if not mental, health of Gonzales. As the astute journalist Ashley Manabat wrote in his Punto story: “How can Gonzales feel vindicated when his electoral protest was dismissed by the HRET for lack of merit. It should be Rodriguez who should feel vindicated and not the other way around.”
Which led Rodriguez to demand his space in the paper, arguing that the story was far from objective, even farther from accurate, and furthest from the truth. As he told the assembly of journalists belonging to the Capampangan in Media Inc. two Fridays back.

Rodriguez assailed the story for presenting as dispositive fact the arguments of Gonzales that were thoroughly negated by the dismissal. 

Read the Sun-Star Pampanga story:

The HRET, in its decision, said that Gonzales “prayed to disqualify protestee (Rodriguez) from holding office as Representative of the Third District of Pampanga, and annul and set aside his proclamation as elected representative of the district, among others. There is, however, no prayer to proclaim protestant as the duly elected Representative thereof…
In its ruling, the Tribunal noted that “after a candidate has been proclaimed elected, his disqualification on grounds of vote buying, terrorism, overspending, and other election irregularities can only be sought in an election protest, this time for the purpose of annulling his election. The Tribunal spoke of annulment of election and not disqualification of elected candidate.”

So was Rodriguez disqualified? So was his proclamation annulled? So where’s Gonzales’ vindication there?

“The decision said that my political rival does not deserve to occupy his position because he has betrayed public trust,” said Gonzales, pointing to Paragraph 36 of the HRET Case No. 13-011 resolution, stating that “All told, Protestee failed to prove that the disbursements were made under the exceptions set forth under the law. Therefore, the issuance of checks and release of financial assistance fall within the ambit of vote buying as described in Section 262 of the Omnibus Election Code. Accordingly, Protestee should be held liable for his wrongdoings.”

Still, Rodriguez remains in the House, seated on the high chair of the committee on good governance and public accountability that, only two days ago, started an investigation into reports that P30 billion in infrastructure funds went missing during the last months of the Arroyo administration.

Of much interest to our regional readers is the record of disbursement for Central Luzon in the documents Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson submitted to Rodriguez’s committee, to wit:

The whole province of Aurora with P25 million.

Bulacan’s 1^st District with P10 million; 2^nd District with P13 million; and 3^rd District with P8 million.

Nueva Ecija’s 1^st District with P32 million; 4^th District with P20 million.

Tarlac’s 3^rd District with P20 million.

Zambales’ 2^nd District with P25 million.

And, last but certainly not least, Pampanga: 1^st District with 35 million; 2^nd District with P35 million; and 3^rd District with P502.5 million.

A whopper there: Gonzales, the 3^rd district congressman at that time, getting much, much, much, more than presidential son Mikey Arroyo representing the 2^nd district.

The incredulous Rodriguez stressing the 3^rd district “received a total of P502.5 million in just one month – February (2013) – less than three months before the elections.”

Furthered he: “According to the DPWH project monitoring report, there was zero accomplishment in my district. I am not saying that they funded ghost projects, only that there was no accomplishment. We are asking Secretary Singson to verify these projects.”

No need for Rodriguez to see ghosts there. He has seen so much before and talked about it.

When Gonzales first went on print – in Sun-Star Pampanga, where else – after filing his electoral protest, he declared: “The indiscriminate issuance of… checks and the distribution of ‘financial assistance’ to numerous recipients, beneficiaries and/or scholars just a few days before the elections obviously constitute massive vote buying.”

Gonzales charged Rodriguez of having violated Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits any public official or employee, including barangay officials, from releasing, disbursing or using public funds during 45 days before a regular election, and Comelec Resolution 9585, which implements Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code that prohibits the release, disbursement and expenditure of public funds effective March 29, 2013 until May 13, 2013.

Of course, Rodriguez paid back Gonzales in kind: "It is all too ironic that he is protesting what he himself precisely did during the campaign and days before the election. I think he is very guilty of that, driving him to desperation.”

And boomed: "It is very sad to note that he corrupted education. Saan ka makakakita na pati kindergarten binigyan ng P800 tapos scholar na. Iyung iba naman, P10,000 per family… Indeed, his protest is very, very ironic.”

Ironic, indeed. With some sense of poetic justice.

With the latest report of the 3^rd district – under Gonzales – getting P502.5 million three months before the May 2013 elections, what had been readily dismissed then as perfunctory counterclaims of Rodriguez are starting to emerge under the very lights of the gospel.

This is pure vindication. For Rodriguez.

Balloon burst

“ALL SET for 2015 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark.”

Screamed the slug of a press release from the Clark Development Corp. late Monday afternoon, with the story reading thus:

CLARK FREEPORT- Officials of the Clark Development Corporation announced that talks are ongoing for the restaging of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta for 2015 inside this freeport.

Tourism and Promotions Department Manager Noemi Garcia said that consultations with the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Foundation, Inc. (PIHABFFI) for a grander balloon fiesta are underway, with the 2013 event being used as a benchmark.

The 2013 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is considered the biggest and most successful sports-tourism event since its introduction in 1994, with the participation of the Breitling Jet Team as the highlight. 

The PIHABFFI, headed by Capt Joy Roa, has been the (sic) forefront of hosting Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark every February, drawing tens of thousands of local and foreign visitors.

This year’s hot air balloon festival on (sic) April which will be held in Lubao, Pampanga was initiated by the Regional Office of the Department of Tourism…

What gives here?

For starters, a refresher of history: the hot air balloon festival was a brainchild of the DOT birthed in 1994, at the time of Secretary Mina Gabor. Looks like it has gone full circle with the DOT at its helm again.

Troubling now that just as the Lubao fest is starting to gain some media mileage, comes this CDC press release bursting its balloon, idiom intended and most appropriate there.

This is most evident in this not-so-subliminal reduction to non-event of the Lubao balloon fest, to wit:

…Aside from the kaleidoscope display from the hot dirigibles, other events during the “Weekend Of Everything That Flies” include sky diving, hang gliding, ultra-light planes, aerobatic precision flying, light airplane rally, helicopter flight demo, remote controlled aeromodellers as well as kite flying, among others…

Beat that Lubao, CDC may as well have said there.

And the litany of Roa’s big-time and blue chip sponsors: 

Over the years, the event has been supported by PIHABFFI, Clark International 

Airport Corporation (CIAC), Philippine Air Force (PAF), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), United Parcel Service (UPS) and DOT…

Compared to Lubao’s seemingly lonely duo of DOT’s Ronnie Tiotuico and the newly established Pilipinas International Balloon Festival Inc. of four-wheeler Noel Castro.

Indeed, a snooty denigration of this year’s fest in that CDC press release.

Teka, teka. I see some half-truths in that italicized take on the sponsors above.

One, CIAC has severed ties with the hot air balloon fest organizers since 2011. Here’s a direct quote from CIAC President-CEO Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano that found space in the local media prior to that year’s festival, to wit:

“This year, 2011, the CIAC has not joined the Hot Air Balloon (Festival). We believe that the project is not in focus with the priorities of CIAC which are to accelerate the development of the airport and woo more airlines to fly to Clark.

For 2010, when CIAC became a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from sponsors which very well covered the P3.5 million payment to Joy Roa.” 

There. And how much has the CDC been paying Roa all these years? Payment that has been questioned far and wide for being unliquidated and unaudited? Ombudsman, anyone?

Two, the Philippine Air Force contingent in Clark, if we remember right, also cut ties with Roa’s balloon fest, resulting to its holding last year at the Omni Aviation area and not at its usual PAF locale.  

Indeed, what gives here?

That press release is a practical rehash of what the CDC issued in late November 2013, to wit:

CLARK FREEPORT -- An official of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) has confirmed reports that the 18th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival (PIHABF) slated in 2014 has been cancelled.

CDC Tourism Office Manager Noemi Garcia said the event will resume in 2015 with more well-prepared activities.

Garcia, at the same time, denied reports that Captain Joy Roa will no longer handle the annual festival in Clark, which is witnessed by thousands of spectators.

Last month, Roa asked officials of CDC, including President Arthur P. Tugade to suspend the event to prepare for it longer.

"He (Roa) has set a standard and he wants to surpass the success of the 2013 hot air balloon festival," Garcia said.

A website released an article stating that CDC cancelled the event because of lack of preparations.

Sabotage, anyone?

Back to that slug of “All set for 2015 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark.” For a

“grander balloon fiesta”  at that, according to the CDC.

How will this stand with the given reason for “disallowing” this year’s balloon fest to take place at Clark, constraining the DOT to move it to Lubao?

Media reports carried: “The reason of the location transfer is due to traffic situation in aviation where some ten international and domestic airlines are now operating and flying in and out of Clark from various destinations. According to a source, a hot air balloon event should be staged at a 25-km no-fly zone.”

So, is CDC certain of much lesser flights at the Clark airport in 2015 warranting a comeback of the hot air balloon fest?

Or is this all a case of the Filipino saying ’pag ayaw may dahilan, ‘pag gusto may paraan?

Yeah, I smell more than enough putrid hot air here to launch Roa’s balloon into orbit.  

  

Clark ain't it

CLARK INTERNATIONAL Airport. The name made its debut in Executive Order No. 192 issued by President Fidel Ramos on July 27, 1994 creating the Clark International Airport Corp.

In 2001, during the incumbency of Dr. Emmanuel Y. Angeles, the Clark Development Corp. Board passed Resolution No. 07-08 stating thus:
“RESOLVED THAT, Management’s recommendation to rename Clark International Airport to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in honor of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, be APPROVED, as it is hereby APPROVED, subject to required legislation.”
However, Angeles’ board and all succeeding boards through his successors at the CDC – Tony Ng, Levy Laus, and Benny Ricafort – all failed to effect the required legislation for the DMIA.

But the airport carried the name DMIA just the same.

On October 14, 2011, the CIAC Board approved Resolution No. SM-10-05, Series of 2011 that:
“RESOLVED THAT, the restoration of the name ‘Clark International Airport (CIA)’ to refer to the Clark Aviation Complex within the Clark Freeport Zone to enhance its international acceptance and to preserve its historical significance, be APPROVED, as it is hereby APPROVED. 
“RESOLVED FURTHER THAT, Terminal 1 will be named as DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL TERMINAL (DMT) in recognition of the legacy of former President Diosdado P. Macapagal as the first Kapampangan to become the (sic) President of the Republic of the Philippines.”
Rationalized CIAC President-CEO Victor Jose Luciano then: “We will project Clark as Clark, including its history.”

Yeah, whatever he meant, given that Clark – previously known as Fort Stotsenberg – was named after Major Harold Clark of the US Army Signal Corps who died in a seaplane crash in Panama Canal in 1919. Come to think of it now: Naming Clark after the aviation pioneer showed some American prescience of what the future holds for the place.   

“We made a survey among pilots and other players in the aviation industry. The Clark International Airport or Diosdado Macapagal International Airport went by three letters and these are CRK,” Luciano said then, referring to the code of the International Air Transport Association for Clark.

The inspired and spirited defense for the DMIA by the eloquent Alexander Cauguiran, once CIAC EVP, failed to turn the tide against the CIA.

So it was – still is – CIA. Until Pampanga 1^st District Rep. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao raised the yellow banner and cried Cory Aquino International Airport for Clark.

Identity crisis

Now, what can we make out of this name game?  

Still in search of a permanent name after some twenty years, the airport in Clark already makes a pathological case of identity crisis.

The psychologist who coined IC – in humans, Erik Erikson called that stage of psychosocial development where IC may breed as “Identity Cohesion versus Role Confusion.”

A condition verily as endemic in the corporate body of the airport in Clark.

So, what really is the role of the Clark airport in the life of the nation?

Pawned to the Almighty Dollar in its American past, the Clark airport served as forward base to imperialist designs, to American hegemony – to quote the militant activists of the period. A role it served to the fullest in the Vietnam War.

Another role designed for Clark to suit the American purpose was being an alternative landing site for the space shuttle program, the very reason for the construction of its second runway.

With the Americans gone and after the ashes of Mount Pinatubo were cleared, Clark assumed the role of “economic engine” for the development of the devastated areas in Central Luzon and catalyst for that of Northern Luzon.   

As stated above, in 1994, President Ramos defined Clark in his Executive Order 174 as “future site of a Philippine premier international airport.”

Twenty years hence, that future has never come any nearer.

At times Clark serves as alternative airport whenever the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is buffeted by strong winds and heavy rains or when its instrument panels, radar or landing lights get to their regular dysfunctional modes.

Also as the go-to airport for Taiwan and Hong Kong aircraft when those cities are lashed by super storms.

The coming of the low-cost carriers – AirAsia Phil. and Zest Air, merged and now gone; Tiger and Cebu Pacific, now joined and still around – assumed another role for Clark – that of being an LCC hub. Notwithstanding the early basing of legacy carrier Aseana, and the subsequent coming of Emirates and Qatar. Indeed, premium in the agenda of the CIAC is the completion of the low-cost terminal.    

With constricted traffic – both air and ground – at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Clark airport primed itself anew as premier international gateway for the country.

But the Metro Manila-nesting imperial dragons would have none of that, preferring to pop up one proposed site – Bulacan for Ramon Ang, after another – reclaim land around Sangley Point announced by Cavite’s Abaya brothers of DOTC’s Joseph Emilio land Philippine Reclamation Authority’s Peter Anthony, as replacement for NAIA.

A consuelo de bobo role for Clark is to serve as “twin” to NAIA. Naturally the lesser of the twins left with the latak or leftover, with firstborn Manila by right getting the premium flights for the choicest destinations.

No matter though, NAIA-Clark twinning has become the buzzword for Pampanga’s business elite and political leaders. To their learned judgment, the best possible scenario to push for the Clark airport.

Even but a cursory consideration will find this as the tipping point of Congressman  Guiao’s proposal of a Cory Aquino International Airport for Clark.

With the Manila airport named after his martyred father and the Clark airport for his sainted mother, what stronger impetus can move the son, BS Aquino III, to engage himself in their twinned development.

Cry bootlicker, as the Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement did.

Still, Guiao can find ready justification for his act in the exigency, if not the expediency, of the moment. Thoroughly Machiavellian, though it may be. 

An unsettling thought from the inspired genius of Dik Pascual, Philippine Star columnist and supremo of Capampangan in Media Inc., to cap this piece: No twinning of Ninoy in Manila and Cory in Clark but conjugating…er, coupling. And with their son BS presiding, it’s political dynasty taken to the air there.

Whoa!