Why & Who Wants Panlilio Staff Fired?

Conclusion to The politics of Quarry Plunder & Jueteng

Philippine Newspapers used to be reliable and balanced in their reporting and printing news; doing their diligence in seeking out all facts and presenting them without bias or prejudice. Nowadays, the readers are the ones who have to dig deeper to see the truth. Its like looking for a morsel of rice from a large bin of trash. Our people could not readily rely on newspapers anymore especially the opinionated news and its kotonglist errr columnist whose reports are oftentimes baseless, leaving out crucial facts in order to insidiously spin a favor to one party.

Expert practitioners of ATM Journalism with their praise release are just too glad to support and service “electronically” those who can afford to pay, especially those involve in the politics of Quarry Plunder & Jueteng, acting like some ladies of the night to their Johns, to “demolish” their enemies. The profession has sunk so low that it has become a virtual propaganda machinery in the service of low-lifers who are unmindful to corrupt the industry in a society that has found itself deeply stuck in the quagmire of corruption and its perverted values.

Lately, Among Ed Panlilio and his staff are at the receiving end of this ATM journalism and its amoral demolition program (a program which some say is the product of a P10 million demolition war chest, whom a son of a political Daimyo bragged about to destroy Panlilio, while some sources say it has to do with the Quarry Tax Plunderers of the past and those wanting to be the neo-plunderers. Others say it has to do with the jueteng Shoguns). Among Ed being a newbie in politics is seen as an “easy” target, a hapless prey. As they say in Pateros, “ kakaning itik” (duckling feed) or a push over. Not surprisingly, the governor’s staff , who are doing their job without fanfare and grandstanding, are also maligned and portrayed as “inefficient unlike the “normal” posturing of most if not all politicians and bureaucrats in the abnormal and dysfunctional Philippine political system. The relentless and vicious attack against Among Ed’s staff is obviously designed to isolate the good governor. Why, some even go to the extent of having them fired and one of those is Federico Pascual with his “unsolicited recommendation” , like a self-proclaimed adviser to Among Ed Panlilio and to quote:

WHAT TO DO? Two broad things the priest-turned-governor may do to salvage the situation are:

1. Replace officious lady lawyers who have been creating enemies for him and leading him to some administrative and political missteps.
   
2. Take a crash course in human relations, public administration and management in a Filipino setting.

Who are these enemies that Pascual refers to? Could it be those who believed that Kapampangans ougth to have a God-fearing, honorable and efficiently-effective public servant? Could it be those fence-sitters, who chose to remain tight-lipped as if they found nothing wrong in the way past provincial administrators handled the province? Or could it be Ms. Tocino of the province Best, once a big supporter and now a fuming , bitter and spiteful enemy of Among Ed Panlilio? It appears that the honest and hardworking staff of Among Ed earned the ire of La Madame Tocino and wanted them fired , which angle, for reasons that Pascual and his deities only know, was conveniently left out in his “brilliant” kotong (extortion) errr column.

Pascual says Among Ed Panlilio is confused and should, like Christ, talk to sinners but if Pascual is really serious on the Christ-like behavior he demands from Among Ed Panlilio, why ask for the heads of the staff as Salome did for the head of the holy, John the Baptist? Christ never fired any of his disciples inspite of their imperfections. In the same manner, why should Among Ed Panlilio heed the call to fire his staff for having done their job so well despite their imperfect nature? Actually, the staff should be praised and given pay increase for a job well done! Again like this other BIG FISH,(obviously salivating while he desperately tries his best to get hold of the quarry tax collection at all cost) who was allegedly promised full control of the quarry tax implementation which Among Ed Panlilio "reneged" according to the LIEPAPERS. I don't blame Among Ed Panlilio for reneging on his promise, if indeed he promised transferring that authority, of all people, to this BIG FISH, who turns out to be a traditional politician whose efficiency in collecting quarry revenues is uncertain, after seeing how the staff performed and continue to perform an excellent job of collecting P136 million in barely 7 months. For Among Ed Panlilio not to renege on that promise, under these circumstances, is like making good on a commmitment to have the infamous champion of the art of euthanasia, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, as the Director of the Pampanga Provincial Hospital!

Pascual seems to gloss over the major achievements of Among Ed, while he hammered on the expected delays attendant to the operation of an administration in transition. Of course, people of lesser moral persuasion would belittle, if not outright dismiss, the excellent Quarry tax collection lest the public see again and rekindle once more the most scandalous and unparalled plunder and rapine of the provincial public coffer during the time that a father and son team held the rein of the province, where everyone of worth in the provincial office “ failed to see” the older Lapid's shameless disregard of the prohibition on conflict of interest in the administration, control and implementation of the policies on the Provincial Quarry Business, while owning family quarrying business enterprise with "uncollected" revenues that may run into hundreds of millions of pesos if not billions.

In the past POGB article Bitter Spiteful Opponents of Good Governance we have questioned the tilted reporting of Sun Star and Marma Dagumboy who, like a Houdini twisting the event, portrayed Lolita Hizon, as a martyr and the alleged target of a “Bomb” threat to earn the “aggrieved” parties some PR points while quoting the text message going around allegedly calling for the boycott of Pampanga’s Best. Clever but not clever enough and if these lousy journalists think they can outsmart people and treat them as gullible recipient of Goebble’s “truth” , they are dead wrong. Another Moro-Moro being peddled as a Shakespearean classic! The attempt to demonize Ed Panlillo and his staff is unrelenting but it crumbles to dust whenever exposed before the liberating light of truth. Take the case of the so called “ nasty letters” from Among Ed Panlilio. The nay-sayers on Among Ed failed to mention a very crucial aspect of the “ nasty” letters’ event, Federico Pascual included with his yarn and incomplete version on the “nasty” letters . Indeed, these letters exist and admittedly were written by the legal staff of Ed Panlilio but are they truly “nasty” as Pascual and his likes wanted the whole Philippines to believe?

According to a very reliable source, Jomer, presently a Bacolor Barangay Captain and a son of Mrs. Lolita Hizon , was a recipient of one of this “nasty” letter which in truth is a simple demand letter from a lawyer staff of Among Ed. For writing a demand letter in compliance with the law, the action earned a stinging rebuke from Federico on its “ nastiness”, using as a battering ram what he describes as the Filipinos shinning trait: and we quote:

Among Filipinos, once a reprimand, censure or a threat is put down in writing, everybody stiffens. This complicates any move to smooth out things later.

Stiffens because one is innocent? Or because one is acting like some spoiled, crazed brat in tantrums, expecting to be treated "differently", being a scion of one of the big supporters of Among Ed Panlilio and is therefore above the application of the law and exempt from being given that “ nasty “ letter? Do you know that only crooks stiffen whenever they are caught with their fingers inside the cookie jar, as when materials earmarked for public use were discovered to have been diverted for private benefit? Now, now Federico, what is up with you? Do you know that innocent upright Filipinos, who believe in good governance, DO NOT STIFFEN and welcomes the enforcement of the law and cooperates because they know no one is above the law? To trivialize the offense discovered and to pervert a purely normal legal act, you resorted to typecasting and insulted our race with your own convoluted take on that trait as a general rule when clearly this is hypocrisy in its lowest form. Look Federico the sin or crime of one person is not the sin of the whole Filipino race but if you feel compelled to own up to it, then that is your choice but please don't include us in your distorted accountability.

Now what is there to “smooth out” according to Pascual? Perhaps what is expected by some quarters in this case is to address this aberration in the quarrying business of the province with the usual ANG LAGAY errrr (bribery) SOP, a protocol obviously seen and practice with ease by corrupt law enforcement agencies in a not so distant past. On a bigger scale, a politically- correct synonym for this practice is transactional politics as in ZTE but then that is another matter. Unfortunately, in case Pascual seems to forget, Among Ed Panlilio and his trusted staff are not the usual run of the mill corrupt administrative team. They are a responsible, transparent, and accountable team pursuing good governance which is exactly the mandate given by the people of Pampanga.

Further to our source, Barangay Captain Jomer was given a gratuitous permit to extract quarry materials in Guagua creek on the condition that it will be used for Barangay roads and public schools. Instead of complying, he was discovered to have diverted the materials to their PRIVATE PROPERTY. My, my how embarrassing can this be! Expectedly, he was given a demand letter to pay penalties and fines in the amount of P105,000 which ATM Journalists “forgot” or willfully left out in their story-telling-a-lie spin they now call “news”! Federico, you are a very intelligent man. We are sure you will agree with us that intelligence is a jewel of excellence, while honesty is a virtue of good character. Is it not true then that a person possessing excellent qualities but with impaired character is like a King who has to beg everyday for his sustenance?

Someone who diverted for his own use materials which are destined for public use, violated the permit issued to him and apparently betrayed the public trust. And Pascual still expects Among Ed Panlilio to treat them with tender, loving care? WHYYYYYY? Are we missing something here? Why would criminals not stiffen or freeze if they get caught? Only the innocent wil not run or try to escape! But there are strong reasons why some of these crooks will look for a sympathetic ally in the likes of Pascual who will shamelessly portray them as the aggrieved victims. Oh boo ho hoo we seem to see some crocodile tears from the press…. Truly a spectacle better than watching those lame banana heart movies of Mark Lapid and his dad’s lousy acting coupled with the dumb fight scenes or Mikey’s equally ridiculous movies. Now why will Among Ed Panlilio extend and stoop down the level of criminals as Pascual demanded? Criminals need to cooperate if they want leniency and in a society that has been under corrupt leaders the opposite is normal. But the Among Ed’s administration, unlike the past corrupt administration, is serious and sincere in the pursuit of good governance.

A very interesting quote from an article by Ding Cervantes at ABS-CBN news on Ms. Lolita Hizon’s reaction:

She also expressed dismay over the governor’s alleged threat to charge her son Jomer with a case before the Office of the Ombudsman for quarrying lahar sand from the heavily silted Gugu creek in Bacolor without a permit.

Hizon said her son, being the barangay chairman of Cabetican in Bacolor, was forced to desilt the creek to prevent lahar flows.

Really? Why then is Barangay Chairman Jomer being put to task for having done such an apparent noble act? But if such is really a noble act, why did he put the materials he took from the creek into his private property? Surely, if those materials were toxic or unsafe, he would not have deposited the same on his property. And since he deposited the materials on his property, then we can assume it is kosher for use on barangay roads or for use of public school, where these materials were supposed to be in the first place! Why then did he deposited them on his property at the exclusion of the barangay or the public school? Is’nt this malversation or at least theft? Is this no different from the practice under the past administration to treat this public domain as part of certain public officials’ private preserve? Is this not one of the very evils which Among Ed vowed to purge during his watch as the chief executive officer of the province of Pampanga?

We find it quite odd that the mother seems to be speaking for her son, Barangay Captain Jomer and that leads to another question. Why does Jomer leave the talking to mommy dearest? Cat bit his tongue or something or is he invoking his right to remain silent?

Instead of being embarrassed or scandalized and reprimanding her son (expected reaction among decent upright individuals), Ms. Lolita Hizon seemed to have directed her anger at the legal staffs who are just doing their job, mandated them by the statute and Among Ed Panlilio, in the implementation of the Quarry ordinance, with firm injunction that anyone violating it should be dealt with according to law. I am sure, some very upright family would have disowned their son in this case. But it seems the world suddenly turned awry. Nobody was disowned. The good guys are being made the villains. It is the wrong doers who are clearly emboldened, seeing no culpability by the likes of Pascual who would rather sympathize and even offer us his "expert" lokogical (moronic) errrr sociological assesment of Filipino trait he calls the STIFF, ULOL, ULOL, ULOL (uncontrolably laughing out loud).

Can we really classify the sending of demand letters to those concerned as highhanded acts by the people, who clearly sent these letters pursuant to their legal obligation to their office but whom Pascual calls “holier-than-thou”? No doubt, it is not high handed. As a matter of fact, what I see here is leniency on the part of the legal staff. Why was Barangay Captain Jomer, son of Hizon not brought to a court of law to face a charge for theft or malversation? May be some quarters thought that the civility of the legal staff of Ed Panlilio was a sign of weakness, so they called for an ATM Journalistic offensive! Well, if it is up to this Political Jaywalker, there should be a criminal case slapped against the spoiled brat son of Hizon and further investigation should be done in order to determine if he acted alone or with others. Those who still live in the past should better learn how to live now and accept that the days of free wheeling rapine and plunder of the provincial public resources under the past provincial administrations are over.

We wonder what Pascual and his gang errr fellow Sun Star journalist would like the tone of the demand letter to be so it does not become “nasty”. Hello, since when does a demand letter become pleasant anyway, or should they tone down the letter that instead of demanding restitution and the payment of a fine, the letter would have the legal staff of Among Ed Panlilio “pleading” like a slave to their “master patron” because they are very “special” people and have to be treated like the new queen and prince of Quarry land?

Now if we follow Federico Pascual’s logic on the staff creating enemies for Among Ed Panlilio for doing their lawful duties, it seems “Mr. Adviser” in his “modus vivendi” political “savvy” mentality is barking at the wrong tree. Is it not the other way around that he should have offered his “expert advice” to Hizon and her Barangay Captain son? Or are we so over populated with people, drowning on their corrupted sense of political pragmatism and perverted moral values that they see those enforcing the law as the villain and while projecting the rotten corrupted bureaucrats as unfair victims?

What really is the difference between the criminal, with his perverted values, and those who, in their news report about the circumstance surrounding the criminal and his acts, shamelessly presented a misinterpretation of the events or facts in an attempt to purify the criminal and crucify the innocent ? Should these news people belong in the field of journalism? Or is the fourth estate in the Philippines dominated now by ATM journalists that it is an accepted norm to see tilted unethical reporting?

With the kind of “friendship” that Hizon and her son provides to Among Ed Panlilio, WHO NEEDS AN ENEMY? This, my friends, is really the bigger question for us…..

Back to series 1, series 2, series 3

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This article is made possible through the collaborative effort of Fidel Umaga of MFP and Political Jaywalker. The excellent imagery of the photo has the uncanny similarity on the state of ATM Journalism & politics of Quarry Plunder & Jueteng like the man relieving himself by the post while others are oblivious of what's going on.

Photo courtesy:

Ville Miettinen

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