Manny Villar blameless?
By Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
01/30/2010
WHILE the Senate is declaring a moratorium on the discussion of the ethics case against Sen. Manny Villar, here are some incontrovertible facts, presented in Q & A form. The source of the information is also given.
* Question: What roadway projects are the subject matter of the Villar ethics controversy?
Answer:
1. The Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP), the original C-5 south extension project, linking SLEX with the Coastal Road;
2. the DPWH C-5 Extension project (CX-5), which together with
3. the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Project (LPPLP), also links SLEX with the Coastal Road.
Source: Senate Report (SR) 780.
* Q: Is the CX-5/LPPLP project a realignment, as Sen. Jamby Madrigal describes it, or has there been no realignment, as Senator Villar’s allies insist?
A: Technically there has been no realignment, because these are two separate roads linking C-5 from SLEX to the Coastal Road. But they are very close together and, in some areas, overlap, as can be ascertained from a site map.
Source: interactive map available at www.gmanews.tv: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/182541/the-c5-extension-controversy-an-interactive-map
* Q: Are there any differences between the MCTEP and the CX-5/LPPLP?
A: Yes.
1. The MCTEP is a joint-venture project between the government and a private Malaysian partner, with the government’s financial exposure limited to P2.68 billion for the purchase of the road right-of-way; the private partner is responsible for the construction of the project, for which tolls will be charged. The CX-5/LPPLP is a toll-free, wholly-financed government project costing P6.96 billion;
2. The CX-5/LPPLP is longer than the MCTEP, its extra length essentially covering the LPPLP portion;
3. The CX-5/LPPLP passes through more Villar properties than the MCTEP.
Source: DPWH project documents cited as Exhibits A, B and TTTT in SR 780; site map from www.gmanews.tv.
* Q: How large are the Villar company landholdings in the immediate vicinity of the questioned road projects?
A: At least 50-52 hectares: 40 hectares in the vicinity of the LPPLP; 10-12 hectares in the area between Sucat Road and Multinational Avenue.
Source: testimony of Anastacio Adriano Jr., senior vice president and general manager, chief operating officer of Adelfa Properties Inc. and other Villar-owned companies up to 2008; self-styled consultant and political officer of Senator Villar since August 2008. Nota bene: Senate employment records do not include his name.
Nota bene: it is not clear whether the 50-52 hectares mentioned above include properties cited in SR 780—roughly 10 hectares in area—to be developed by Villar companies in joint venture with their owners.
* Q: What is the involvement of Villar in CX-5 and LPPLP?
A:
1. The Project Feasibility Study of the DPWH for CX-5 states: “The conceptualization of and the initial release of funds for the CX-5 Project was initiated by Sen. Manuel Villar whose same efforts also paved the way for the funding of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road [LPPLP]�;
2. Various insertions and amendments (Priority Development Assistance Fund, read pork barrel) in the national government budget over the years 2002-2008 for CX-5 and LPPLP;
3. Adriano (cited above), in the office of and presence of Villar, dictating to the director general of the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) Villar’s proposed amendments to the 2008 budget, including a P400-million appropriation for the CX-5.
Source: documents submitted by DPWH, lawyer Yolanda Doblon of the LBRMO, testimony of both Doblon and Adriano, cited in SR 780.
* Q: Were the Villar properties bought for road right-of-way overpriced?
A: SR 780 argues for the affirmative; PSR 1472 (the resolution signed by Villar and his allies exonerating him from all charges) argues for the negative. This calls for a conclusion of the reader.
And to help that along, I have—based on the documented prices and acreage of the lands purchased in connection with the LPPLP—computed the weighted average prices that were paid for the Villar and related properties, and those paid for the non-Villar properties.
The results: The Villar/related properties, comprising 23,455 square meters, were bought for P168.1 million. The non-Villar properties, comprising 11,685 square meters, were bought for P22 million. That comes to a weighted average of P7,168 per square meter for Villar’s properties, and P1,880 per square meter for the non-Villar properties. That has to be a statistically significant difference.
Given the above facts—which no one can contest, since they are based on official documents, and not on a he-says-she-says set of assertions—it has to be reasonable to conclude:
1. Since there was already an ongoing project (the MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was totally unnecessary to build a second one.
2. Which means that there was a waste of scarce resources. Instead of using only P2.6 billion of government funds for the first project, the government had to spend an additional P6.9 billion for the second, which practically duplicated the first, except for the additional length which happily for Senator Villar, traversed his properties.
3. This unnecessary, wasteful project was certainly Villar’s idea. It is specious to argue that it is a DPWH project. As the DPWH feasibility study states (in black and white), both the CX-5 and the LPPLP were conceived and initially funded by Villar.
4. Villar benefited tremendously from the second project. Certainly, his companies were paid significantly more per square meter for the road right of way (which were mostly bought from him). But that pales into insignificance compared with the tremendous increase in the values of his real estate holdings in the area—at least 50-52 hectares.
Is he blameless? Is the Pope protestant? ###
Saturday, January 30, 2010
LP campaign acronym: Thank you, Lorrrd!
By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Invoking the Lord’s name in a political campaign has become standard practice in this predominantly Christian country. But what about using the name of the “Lorrrd”?
In what could be called either a political masterstroke or just plain gimmickry, Liberal Party senatorial candidates have formed their names into a rather catchy campaign acronym: “SLAMAT LORRRD.”
“That’s not just ‘salamat (thank you), Lord.’ It’s ‘salamat Lorrrd,’” said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, exaggeratedly rolling his Rs.
The acronym stands for: S-Sonia Roco, L-Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, A-Nereus Acosta, M-Martin Bautista, A-Alexander Lacson, T- Teofisto “TG” Guingona, L-Yasmin Busran Lao, O-Serge Osmeña (guest candidate), R-Ruffy Biazon, R-Ralph Recto, R-Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and D-Franklin Drilon.
Pangilinan, who was recently designated as spokesperson for LP’s senatorial slate, said they came up with the acronym during a recent brainstorming session.
“We thought it up” when the lineup was complete, he said.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Invoking the Lord’s name in a political campaign has become standard practice in this predominantly Christian country. But what about using the name of the “Lorrrd”?
In what could be called either a political masterstroke or just plain gimmickry, Liberal Party senatorial candidates have formed their names into a rather catchy campaign acronym: “SLAMAT LORRRD.”
“That’s not just ‘salamat (thank you), Lord.’ It’s ‘salamat Lorrrd,’” said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, exaggeratedly rolling his Rs.
The acronym stands for: S-Sonia Roco, L-Brig. Gen. Danny Lim, A-Nereus Acosta, M-Martin Bautista, A-Alexander Lacson, T- Teofisto “TG” Guingona, L-Yasmin Busran Lao, O-Serge Osmeña (guest candidate), R-Ruffy Biazon, R-Ralph Recto, R-Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and D-Franklin Drilon.
Pangilinan, who was recently designated as spokesperson for LP’s senatorial slate, said they came up with the acronym during a recent brainstorming session.
“We thought it up” when the lineup was complete, he said.
Why rich people cannot afford many kids
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The rich cannot afford to have many children because more children will deprive them of time to make more and more money. Only the poor can afford to have many children because they trust that God will bless their best efforts to provide for their children.
If only the government would honestly use the billions and trillions of money allotted for good governance and public service, including proper infrastructure development, good education and health care, then all of us can work for a decent life. Then those who teach the morality of treating pregnancy as a disease like the proponents of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill do, and those who consider abortion simply as a process of “evacuating uterine contents,” would have no reason to force their morality on us.
A large majority of women who seek abortion are those who had failed in their attempt at contraception. Legalizing artificial contraception through abortifacients will surely lead to legalizing abortion.
Also, doctors do not have to be sick in order to treat their patients with similar cases of cancer, tuberculosis and other sicknesses. In the same way, the Church hierarchy under the infallible teaching of the Holy Father the Pope on faith and morals, do not have to have first-hand experience of married life in order to teach us about the sacredness of life and family.
—LELLA M. DE JESUS,
Commission on Family and Life,
Mary Mother of Good Counsel Parish,
Parañaque City,
email: lellamdj@gmail.com
The rich cannot afford to have many children because more children will deprive them of time to make more and more money. Only the poor can afford to have many children because they trust that God will bless their best efforts to provide for their children.
If only the government would honestly use the billions and trillions of money allotted for good governance and public service, including proper infrastructure development, good education and health care, then all of us can work for a decent life. Then those who teach the morality of treating pregnancy as a disease like the proponents of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill do, and those who consider abortion simply as a process of “evacuating uterine contents,” would have no reason to force their morality on us.
A large majority of women who seek abortion are those who had failed in their attempt at contraception. Legalizing artificial contraception through abortifacients will surely lead to legalizing abortion.
Also, doctors do not have to be sick in order to treat their patients with similar cases of cancer, tuberculosis and other sicknesses. In the same way, the Church hierarchy under the infallible teaching of the Holy Father the Pope on faith and morals, do not have to have first-hand experience of married life in order to teach us about the sacredness of life and family.
—LELLA M. DE JESUS,
Commission on Family and Life,
Mary Mother of Good Counsel Parish,
Parañaque City,
email: lellamdj@gmail.com
Monday, January 25, 2010
7 reasons why we get hurt
By Marge C. Enriquez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
PROTECTION IS OFTEN equated with physical means—vaccines, security guards, martial arts or amulets. But majority of us would never think about protecting ourselves from being emotionally scarred by others. Says London-based author and motivational speaker Mike George, “We will never need to worry about being hurt by others as our average day carries very little physical threat. However, if we move to the mental and emotional level, there appears to be a different kind of possibility that we may get hurt. Our symptoms of hurt emerge as a result of blaming, complaining and accusing others for ‘making me feel this way.’ Is that because, like physical hurt, we are not strong enough or not powerful enough to protect ourselves, or is it because we feel we are at the mercy of other people and circumstances ... Do we need some kind of ‘bouncer system’ standing guard at the windows of our minds and at the doors of our heart?”
Here are seven reasons why we might feel hurt.
Insulted. “How dare you say that to me!” We can easily feel disrespected or sullied when somebody makes derogatory or unflattering remarks about our work or our personality.
Offended. “Can you believe what they just said about ‘my’ religion, beliefs, ideas, etc.” The feeling is similar to being offended after someone makes disparaging comments of another person’s appearance, actions or speech. In our “conclusion” of the other, we see them doing or saying something against our own values or beliefs.
Let down. “I’m so disappointed in you because you’ve let me down.” Getting upset or disappointed comes from the perception that someone has not met our expectations. Whether they showed up late or failed to do what they said, we take it personally. Once our sorrow has waned, we hold on to a negative impression of them.
Betrayed. “How could you tell them what I said, how can I ever trust you again?” In truth, people don’t have the power to merge especially when they are asked to keep a secret. The hurt comes when we expect people not to pass on what we said.
Robbed. “They took everything from me.” We feel violated when something precious is taken away from us. It’s not just theft; even businesses are out to mooch us they can for their product and service.
Broken promise. “But you promised me...” It’s a personal hurt when someone does not keep his word, whether it’s the parent who fails to purchase the toy for Christmas, the boss who fails to deliver a promotion, or a friend who fails to pay a debt.
Excluded. “You didn’t invite me...” You feel insecure when you’re not included to an event or group that you aspired to be part of. The sensitive feelings are heightened when there’s the thought, “What’s wrong with me?”
It feels as if life offers many opportunities to feel hurt and powerless in the face of other people’s behavior or the prevailing situation. That’s just a matter of perception. George points out that these responses are actually habits of creating our own suffering.
Self-empowerment
Here are his suggestions for self-empowerment.
1. Accept responsibility. The main responsibility in life is the ability to respond. Any hurt reactions are self-created and not caused by another person or event. That’s easier said than done. George says it takes time for the situation or the reaction to die down. By then, we see things more objectively and realize that we feel hurt because “the world is not dancing to our tune.”
2. End controlling. Majority of the hurts stem from the fact that people are not behaving the way we want them to behave. “Our emotional reaction is a sign that we are trying to control what we cannot control,” says George.
3. Be happy anyway. The media and social conditioning have led us to believe that we can’t be happy unless we’ve got this or that. But as long as our contentment is based on another human being or situation, our emotions will vacillate and we will be unable to be centered inside and be genuinely nice to others.
4. Letting go. The cause of all sorrow is holding on to ideas, belief systems, possessions, people and, more significantly, attachment to images of how others should behave. Letting go means not expending our energy on these attachments and instead responding positively to the situation.
5. Self-awareness. Take a few minutes each day and note down the times you felt hurt by someone or by a situation, and see why it was caused by your reaction and not them. This exercise will remind us that we create our own feelings regardless of other people’s behavior. George points out that we could even be guilty of doing what hurts others and we may not be aware of it.
Once we’ve taken up the cudgels for change, here are the signs of self-empowerment:
1. Whatever insults are hurled to you are just words, not sticks and stones.
2. You are not offended when you are no longer holding on to a belief system about how people should speak or behave or dress up.
3. You don’t feel hurt when someone lets you down because you’ve learned not to make your happiness dependent on your expectations of others.
4. You don’t feel betrayed when a person divulges confidential information which you shared. “You know that you cannot control what others will do with what you share,” says George.
5. You can’t be robbed of anything because the real treasures are spiritual. Everything else that is material is ephemeral.
6. You can’t be hurt by broken promises because you accept that people can’t always be relied upon to conform with what they’ve said, and your happiness is not dependent on a fulfilled promised.
7. You don’t feel bad if you’ve been ignored or even blackballed. Self-esteem is not dependent on acceptance from others. “You no longer need to be involved in anything to be content within yourself. You know there is nothing wrong with you. You are a free spirit,” says George.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
PROTECTION IS OFTEN equated with physical means—vaccines, security guards, martial arts or amulets. But majority of us would never think about protecting ourselves from being emotionally scarred by others. Says London-based author and motivational speaker Mike George, “We will never need to worry about being hurt by others as our average day carries very little physical threat. However, if we move to the mental and emotional level, there appears to be a different kind of possibility that we may get hurt. Our symptoms of hurt emerge as a result of blaming, complaining and accusing others for ‘making me feel this way.’ Is that because, like physical hurt, we are not strong enough or not powerful enough to protect ourselves, or is it because we feel we are at the mercy of other people and circumstances ... Do we need some kind of ‘bouncer system’ standing guard at the windows of our minds and at the doors of our heart?”
Here are seven reasons why we might feel hurt.
Insulted. “How dare you say that to me!” We can easily feel disrespected or sullied when somebody makes derogatory or unflattering remarks about our work or our personality.
Offended. “Can you believe what they just said about ‘my’ religion, beliefs, ideas, etc.” The feeling is similar to being offended after someone makes disparaging comments of another person’s appearance, actions or speech. In our “conclusion” of the other, we see them doing or saying something against our own values or beliefs.
Let down. “I’m so disappointed in you because you’ve let me down.” Getting upset or disappointed comes from the perception that someone has not met our expectations. Whether they showed up late or failed to do what they said, we take it personally. Once our sorrow has waned, we hold on to a negative impression of them.
Betrayed. “How could you tell them what I said, how can I ever trust you again?” In truth, people don’t have the power to merge especially when they are asked to keep a secret. The hurt comes when we expect people not to pass on what we said.
Robbed. “They took everything from me.” We feel violated when something precious is taken away from us. It’s not just theft; even businesses are out to mooch us they can for their product and service.
Broken promise. “But you promised me...” It’s a personal hurt when someone does not keep his word, whether it’s the parent who fails to purchase the toy for Christmas, the boss who fails to deliver a promotion, or a friend who fails to pay a debt.
Excluded. “You didn’t invite me...” You feel insecure when you’re not included to an event or group that you aspired to be part of. The sensitive feelings are heightened when there’s the thought, “What’s wrong with me?”
It feels as if life offers many opportunities to feel hurt and powerless in the face of other people’s behavior or the prevailing situation. That’s just a matter of perception. George points out that these responses are actually habits of creating our own suffering.
Self-empowerment
Here are his suggestions for self-empowerment.
1. Accept responsibility. The main responsibility in life is the ability to respond. Any hurt reactions are self-created and not caused by another person or event. That’s easier said than done. George says it takes time for the situation or the reaction to die down. By then, we see things more objectively and realize that we feel hurt because “the world is not dancing to our tune.”
2. End controlling. Majority of the hurts stem from the fact that people are not behaving the way we want them to behave. “Our emotional reaction is a sign that we are trying to control what we cannot control,” says George.
3. Be happy anyway. The media and social conditioning have led us to believe that we can’t be happy unless we’ve got this or that. But as long as our contentment is based on another human being or situation, our emotions will vacillate and we will be unable to be centered inside and be genuinely nice to others.
4. Letting go. The cause of all sorrow is holding on to ideas, belief systems, possessions, people and, more significantly, attachment to images of how others should behave. Letting go means not expending our energy on these attachments and instead responding positively to the situation.
5. Self-awareness. Take a few minutes each day and note down the times you felt hurt by someone or by a situation, and see why it was caused by your reaction and not them. This exercise will remind us that we create our own feelings regardless of other people’s behavior. George points out that we could even be guilty of doing what hurts others and we may not be aware of it.
Once we’ve taken up the cudgels for change, here are the signs of self-empowerment:
1. Whatever insults are hurled to you are just words, not sticks and stones.
2. You are not offended when you are no longer holding on to a belief system about how people should speak or behave or dress up.
3. You don’t feel hurt when someone lets you down because you’ve learned not to make your happiness dependent on your expectations of others.
4. You don’t feel betrayed when a person divulges confidential information which you shared. “You know that you cannot control what others will do with what you share,” says George.
5. You can’t be robbed of anything because the real treasures are spiritual. Everything else that is material is ephemeral.
6. You can’t be hurt by broken promises because you accept that people can’t always be relied upon to conform with what they’ve said, and your happiness is not dependent on a fulfilled promised.
7. You don’t feel bad if you’ve been ignored or even blackballed. Self-esteem is not dependent on acceptance from others. “You no longer need to be involved in anything to be content within yourself. You know there is nothing wrong with you. You are a free spirit,” says George.
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