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I’d like to think Lacierda was just acting stupid

September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 Ellen Leave a comment

The President’s spokesman

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda probably thought the Filipino people are stupid or else why would he say that the reason why the President has not made statements on other national issues was because he has no access to Manila newspapers.

In this day and age of internet and cellphones!

Lacierda said Wednesday: “You know, the problem in Zamboanga is that no planes are flying there. They’re not getting news there. No newspapers are being flown there.”

Lacierda thinks we will believe that? I’d rather think he was not in the mood to think up of excuses why the President has not made a statement on the filing of charges against three senators and 34 other persons in connection with the pork barrel scam operated by Janet Lim Napoles who surrendered to him last Aug. 28. He even brought her to Camp Crame to make sure she is safe and well taken care of, remember?

There were other issues like the Sangguniang Kabataan elections scheduled Oct. 28. Last Monday the Senate approved a bill postponing it until the SK is restructured. The House also approved a similar bill last week. It’s awaiting the President’s certification as “urgent.”

There are hundreds of journalists sending their stories complete with pictures and video from Zamboanga. That simply means that nobody can be out of touch.

I’d like to think that Lacierda was just acting stupid when he thought of that “no newspapers” excuse because if he were, kawawa naman ang taumbayan.

The President has been in Zamboanga since Friday last week. It’s good that he held a press conference in Zamboanga yesterday because his absence in public functions is fuel all sorts of rumors.

Here’s excerpts from his press conference:

Reporter: How involved are you in the decision making dito and in order to solve this crisis here in Zamboanga?

Aquino: I am both Commander-in-Chief and the President, therefore, at the end of the day, everything is my responsibility, so I am very involved—‘yung from everything to getting briefed and putting some of my inputs into the security operations.

Meron din ‘yung others to make parang the effects of the crisis less, ano, that means ‘yung DSWD. I get briefed; I get—I ask them what is needed, et cetera; authorize the releases of funds; to talking to Bangko Sentral to ensure that the cash supply, ano, ‘yung physical cash supply is present; to talking to DTI, DOTC, and DA to ensure that basic food stuffs are available from the time before I left Manila to the present—to include not just Zamboanga City but BASULTA (Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-tawi).

Reporter:. Sir, kumusta po ‘yung war room? Balita kasi namin parang madaling araw daw kayo nagigising. Talagang nagko-command kayo sa mga different heads in order to resolve this crisis.

Aquino: Mahirap naman sigurong bigyan ng image na nagma-micromanage ako. Hindi, ano. In-assign natin ang bawat tao sa kanilang pwesto dahil may paniniwala tayong may kakayahan sila na tugunan ‘yung kanilang responsibilidad.

So, kung minsan, meron tayong katanungan, hinihingan natin ng clarification at sinisigurado rin natin, kaya nagpunta ako dito… Alam mo, ‘nung bago ako umabot dito—‘di ba, Friday—nag-uusap kami: telepono, may video conferencing na kailangang i-improve, medyo ‘yung layo nagka… Baka magkaroon ng hindi klaro na pag-unawa doon sa ating mga kautusan.

So nagpunta tayo dito para mas mabilis ‘yung pagbigay ng impormasyon, at pagbigay din ng desisyon, at i-klaro kung ano man ang kailangang klaruhin—either doon sa mga konsepto or doon sa desisyon na ating pinairal.

Reporter: Sir, parang napansin ko lahat na ho ng opisyales ay nandirito sa Zamboanga. Hanggang kailan niyo po sasamahan ang mga taga-Zamaboanga?

Aquino: Well, pipilitin ko hanggang matapos itong immediate na crisis, ano. Palagay ko babalik ako ‘pag natapos ‘yung plano para maipaliwanag nang naka-detalye: ano ang gagawin ng gobyerno, para kanino, saan, at kailan. At I don’t expect that to take too long, ano.

Pero balikan ko lang nga, ‘yung siguro, gusto ko lang iwan sa mga nakikinig po sa atin sa kasalukuyan, na handa ang gobyernong tumugon sa lahat ng suliranin. Ito palagay ko’y, in a sense, unique, ano. Nailipat mo or nailikas mo ang daang libo at hindi kami humingi ng—o hindi kami gumawa ng excuses kung hindi mapakain, kung hindi matugunan ang panggagamot. Siguro, patunay ‘yon na ready sila.

So I’d like to… ‘Yung ‘pag may nagsasabi sa akin, “parang ang ‘cool’ mo.” Sabi ko, ‘pag ito mga kasamahan mo, na lahat ay ginagampanan ‘yung kailangan nilang gawin na hindi mo na kailangang utusang gampanan, at kung ano mang pagsubok na palaki nang palaki ay natutugunan pa rin, ay talaga namang, ‘di ba, napapahanga ako sa kanila at doon nagmumula ‘yung kumpiyansa na malalampasan natin kung ano man ang pagsubok dito.

Siguro, baka as a last thing na lang, ano, hindi pa huli ang lahat. Doon sa mga natitira na puwersa ng kalaban, sa akin mahalaga ang buhay, baka naman gusto niyong tingnan kung mahalaga rin ‘yung buhay niyo? At hindi pa huli ang lahat para tapusin ito nang mabawasan ‘yung namamatay or nasusugatan—nasa inyong kamay ‘yon.

I’d like to think Lacierda was just acting stupid

September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 Ellen Leave a comment

The President’s spokesman

In this day and age of internet and cellphones!

Lacierda said Wednesday: “You know, the problem in Zamboanga is that no planes are flying there. They’re not getting news there. No newspapers are being flown there.”

There are hundreds of journalists sending their stories complete with pictures and video from Zamboanga. That simply means that nobody can be out of touch.

I’d like to think that Lacierda was just acting stupid when he gave that “no newspapers” excuse because if he were not, kawawa naman ang taumbayan.

The President has been in Zamboanga since Friday last week. It’s good that he held a press conference in Zamboanga yesterday because his absence in public functions is fuel all sorts of rumors.

Here’s excerpts from his press conference:

Reporter: How involved are you in the decision making dito and in order to solve this crisis here in Zamboanga?

Reporter:. Sir, kumusta po ‘yung war room? Balita kasi namin parang madaling araw daw kayo nagigising. Talagang nagko-command kayo sa mga different heads in order to resolve this crisis.

Usi na rin ang Presidente

June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 Ellen Leave a comment

Ayun sa report, dalawang oras maganap ang pagsabog sa Serendra, isang pangmayamang lugar sa Taguig City Biyernes ng gabi, dumating si Pangulong Aquino at si Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Galing, di ba? Aksyun agad.

Ano nga ba ang aksyun?

Kapag tiningnan mo ang video ng ABS-CBN, makikita na may opisyal ng pulis na kausap ni Presidente. Nagtuturo, paminsan-minsan tumatango si PNoy. Mukhang nagbi-briefing tungkol sa nangyaring pagsabog.

President Aquino inspects scene of the blast while plice were doing initial investigation.

Sa oras na yun, ayun sa mga on-the-spot report, wala pang detalya tungkol sa pagsabog. Paiba-iba pa kung saang palapag nangyari ang pagsabog at kung ilan ang namatay.

Karaniwan, ang Filipino, kapag may nangyari– away, pagsabog,sunog o anumang kaguluhan- takbo kaagad para mag-usisa. “Usi” ang tawag natin sa ganyang ugali.

Maaring katulad ng marami sa atin, ganun din si PNoy.

Sa mga dalawang beses na bumagyo at maraming nawalan ng bahay, nasaktan at may namatay, binatikos si Aquino dahil hindi siya bumibisita sa mga nasalantang lugar kahit nakalipas ang ilang araw.

Ang sinabi ng Malacanang, ayaw daw ni Aquino na maka-istorbo sa rescue at relief operations. Kasi kapag pumunta daw siya, aasikasuhin pa siya.

Oo nga naman, Presidente siya kaya aasikasuhin talaga siya. At kailangan siya protektahan.

Naala-ala pa ba ninyo ang Rizal Park hostage taking noong Agosto 2010 kung saan walong taga-Hongkong ang namatay? Halos 15 oras na walang narinig at hindi nakita si PNoy. Nagsimula ang hostage-taking mga 9 ng umaga, nagsalita siya sa media, lampas na ng hatinggabi.

PNoy at blast site.

“Bakit nandiyan ang Presidente?” Yan ang tanong ng marami nang makita si Pnoy sa scene-of-the blast sa Serendra noong Biyernes ng gabi. Yung iba ay naiinis dahil sa ganong oras, istorbo lang siya doon. Wala namang matutulong ang kanyang pagpunta doon.

Ang iba naman ay nag-aalala sa kanyang kaligtasan. Sa ganung oras, hindi pa alam ang sanhi ng pagsabog. Paano kung kagagawan yun ng terorista? Di pati siya, delikado.

Tanong ng iba, bakit pinayagan yan ng kanyang chief security? Bakit may magawa ba ang chief security kung gusto ng Presidente?

Ito ang ibang reaksyon sa Facebook:

Sabi ni Nonoy Espina: “The rich are truly different from you and me… sumabog lang ang apartment, personal presidential order na. Matupok man libo-libong dampa, ni singhot wala.”

Meron ding pumalakpak.

Sabin ni Arnel P. Casanova, presidente at chief executive officer ng Bases Conversion and Development Authority, na siyang may-ari datin ng lupa na kintatayuan ng Serendra,” It is comforting to see President Aquino himself on top of the situation on the site and the entire government and private sector working together to address the situation in a very efficient and expeditious manner. “

Kumento ni Carlito Bisa :I hope the president could also visit the squatters na nasusunugan at maralitang nabibiktima ng karahasan.”

No need for Lacson to harm Mancao

May 6, 2013May 6, 2013 Ellen Leave a comment

Cesar Mancao. Photo from Tempo.

On Nov. 16, 2011, there was a hearing of the Dacer-Corbito kidnapping and murder case. That was the day after Gloria Arroyo was blocked at the airport when she attempted to leave the country for Singapore.

A source who was at the courtroom said the prosecution’s witness, former Police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II, was fidgety because his lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, was not around.

Someone told Mancao, “Hindi na darating yun. Napuyat yun kagabi. (He won’t be coming. He is tired due to to last night’s incident.”

Topacio never made it to the court that day and the hearing was postponed. He was present in subsequent hearings.

Mancao having the same lawyer as Arroyo gives a clue as to the link between the two.

Topacio’s non-appearance that day should have given Mancao an idea what’s in store for him that he had already served the purpose of Arroyo which was to pin down Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

It will be recalled that Mancao’s turnaround testimony, accusing Lacson of having ordered the kidnapping and murder of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, in 2000, was the basis of a warrant of arrest for Lacson. The senator evaded arrest by leaving the country and came back only after Arroyo had stepped down and the case against him was dismissed.

The Court of Appeals ruled that “Cezar Mancao is not a credible and trustworthy witness. Under oath, he contradicted himself on material points. Inconsistencies and material contradiction affect the credibility of Cezar Mancao and the veracity of his statements.” The decision was sustained by the Supreme Court.

The dismissal of the case against Lacson put Mancao in a complicated situation because he was under the Witness Protection Program. After he was declared not a credible witness, what was the use of his staying under the protection of the state?

Even then, Arroyo still has a lot of “people” in the Department of Justice and Mancao continued to stay at the National Bureau of Investigation. He was expecting that the case against him related to the Dacer-Corbito murder case would be dropped after the case against co-accused, former police Senior Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino was dismissed. But it did not happen.

His narration of how he escaped last Thursday looked so easy, one wonders if he was not purposely let out. Subsequent statements by NBI officials pretending to be on the manhunt of Mancao insult the public.

In his media interview after he left the NBI compound, he said he had to “escape” after he learned that he would be transferred to the Manila City Jail. He said he could be easily killed at the Manila City jail. He blamed Lacson for the adversities that he is undergoing.

Lacson, who is busy campaigning for his son, Jay, who is a candidate for vice governor in Cavite, replied to reporters in a text message, he “can’t see any cogent reason to comment or react to Mancao’s tirades having been declared by the Court no less as incredible.”

“I have long forgiven him as I have forgiven those who made me suffer for 9 years of the Arroyo regime. Having said that, I have no interest in him,” he also said.

Come to think of it. What would Lacson gain if he harmed Mancao now? Nothing.

Pity Mancao. A perpetual sense of insecurity, which must be Mancao’s situation, is a punishment you would not wish even on your worst enemy.

The weakest link in the Megamall heist

February 7, 2013February 7, 2013 Ellen Leave a comment

By Ace Esmeralda,VERA Files

A shop in Megamall after the robbery. Photo by Rio Ribaya from Yahoo.

Many things don’t fit in the statements of the police on the Jan. 26 Megamall robbery.

As of this writing, the Mandaluyong police have claimed to have “identified” two of the six suspects in the robbery. But in reality, they don’t have the two suspects’ names and addresses yet. What they have are cartographic sketches that matched the images captured by the CCTV and confirmed by the sales ladies of The Jeweler and F&C Jewelry stores. Ironically, the police were quick to tag the Martilyo (Hammer) Gang as suspects without knowing that pipe wrenches were used to smash the glass displays and that they haven’t identified by name and other personal details any of the robbers.

How did it happen?

At around 6:56 p.m. of that Saturday, the first of the six suspects entered the mall thru a supermarket entrance where the security guards on duty were performing their mandatory and required bag check and frisking. Five others were seen thru CCTV review to have entered the same door, seconds apart each other.

However, it seems that the suspects know that the performance of duty of the guards were perfunctory, cursory and for the sake of compliance only. Only one of the six was armed, at least, with a .45 caliber pistol – based on the fact he fired two shots during the daring deed.

The armed man went thru the inspection but the hand frisking guard who did not use his hand-held metal detector failed to detect the gun tucked in his crotch. The guard was most likely cautious of touching the genital area. It was never known if any one else was armed since it was not evident in the CCTV records.

Eight minutes after the first guy entered the supermarket doors, two guys went to Ace Hardware to buy pipe wrenches. Despite the fact that they can buy any other tools and implements, they settled for a practical and less suspicious tool for their trade.

Twenty-two minutes after the purchase of the tools, the wrench-carrying members of the “Hammer Gang” went to the department store area and smashed the frail glass casings of the display counters of F&C Jewelry and The Jewelry stores. Since the smashing of glass created sharp attention-getting sound, department store security guards proceeded to the source of the noise. One of the robbers drew out his pistol but accidentally fired his first shot at a nearby display counter. His second shot was “fired to the air” as a “warning shot” and hit the ceiling. The recovered embedded slugs confirmed the caliber of the pistol. However, as most crime cases involving firearms, ballistics are good only in proving that the gun used is not licensed, therefore, there is no lead to the ownership.

In just two minutes, all the robbers made good of their escape with the ensuing commotion and confusion of the weekend shoppers and mall-goers. They reportedly carted with them almost 175 pieces of gold necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. Not unusual as it may be, the two stores are not giving out the estimated value of the stolen items, yet. They may still be consulting their insurers or appraisers until now.

Within the first minute of the crime, the police were called in. They claimed to have arrived after two to three minutes, which is unusually fast but still late to catch the robbers.

Why did the robbers get away?

So how come the robbers still got away? The simplest answer is that they simply blended with the crowd who were rushing out the enclosed confines of the mall. The simpler answer is that the security forces and the police don’t know yet the real situation in the first two minutes and even if they know, they don’t have faces and details to base their apprehensions. Therefore, a quick response and arrival of the police is no big help when they do not know the situation.

Locking down a big mall with tens of thousands of people in a Saturday while waiting for incident details is not an easy job. Engaging armed suspects with automatic weapons inside thickly populated confined spaces may most likely harm innocent people than neutralizing suspects. Such realistic situation provides any criminal or even a shoplifter the opportunity to escape being caught.

How about the safety and security of mall goers?

Security is different from safety, technically speaking. But for laymen, safety and security are interchangeable terms. It is assumed that SM Megamall building structures, driveways, and other facilities were constructed with general safety in mind. Security experts,however, noticed that holistic security concepts were not part of their building design just like 99.9% of buildings in the country.

There are many aspects of safety and security in a building complex. Generally speaking, the security guards in SM malls, like all other security guard posts, are to provide both the security and safety requirements not only of the mall goers but of the SM employees and tenants also. The guards of the retail outlets and malls are to protect first the shoppers and mall goers. They are not to engage criminals in a shoot-out or to prioritize the protection of material goods above the welfare of human life.

They personally undergo vetting and training while their agencies are subjected to accreditation process. The security management and standards of SM supermarket, SM department stores, Ace Hardware, and the malls are different from each other. Each has different assessment of their risks and threats, standards in hiring security agencies, and use of guns. They undergo periodic audit and training but whether the auditors are independent and certified is another thing.

The first and the last person shoppers see in buildings in the Philippines are the security guards who are also expecting that they and their families are always safe and secure when spending time in malls and other places. They know that they got their job as private security guards because the tax-paid public police officers are not enough.

It takes only one guard not to perform his job for security systems to fail. And in this case, the culprit was that guard at the supermarket entrance.

(Ace Esmeralda is a former Army officer and graduate of Philippine Military Academy. He is a Certified Protection Professional of the ASIS International and asset protection consultant to several multinational corporations. He is also a technical security design and management system consultant.)

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)