Shame on Daang Matuwid

When the Aquino administration took over the reins of power in Malacañang, the directors of the Development Bank of the Philippines turn over their respective resignations, and later cases were filed against the DBP Board and officials for their alleged involvement of a P660-million behest loans to Deltaventures Resources, Inc. which originally the Ombudsman ordered these officials dismissed last February 2013. The Court of Appeals reversed the ruling of the Ombudsman.

That particular case is one proof that the attack dogs of the Aquino regime barks a lot but has no bite, as they really had no evidence that this deal was a behest loan. So Mr. Reynaldo David, including my friends, Alex Magno and Ramon "Boboy" Durano IV was cleared of any wrongdoing. But now that the Aquino boys are now in charge of the DBP, I was taken aback by the news in the Business Section of the Inquirer last Tuesday, which headlined, "COA disallows P300M in DBP Bonuses!" Let me reprint that portion of this news about the DBP.

"Almost P300 million worth of bonuses authorized by top officials of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to be paid to themselves in 2014 have been disallowed by the Commission on Audit for being irregular and excessive" under the agency's rules."

Who are these DBP officials? DBP Chair Jose Nuñez, President and CEO Gil Buenaventura and six directors, notable among them is Mr. Alberto Lim and 16 Senior DBP officials and these disciples of Daang Matuwid just gifted themselves with bags of money that belongs to the Filipino people.

Who is this Alberto Lim? He was the Secretary of the Department of Tourism when the Aquino administration took the reins of government. He suddenly changed the famous and successful "Wow! Philippines" slogan into "Pilipinas Kay Ganda," which we chastised because it was in the Tagalog language and worse when you Google this phrase, it brings you to a porn site of Filipinas in the sex trade. It became an instant embarrassment to Filipinas all over the world. And I never stop chastising Lim for this.

Then on August 8, 2011, Alberto Lim called me for a one-on-one meeting and on August 10, we met at the Tavern of the Cebu Country Club for a frank and honest talk. Then on the following day, my cellphone was ringing with so many people sending me texts if I knew that President PNoy Aquino had accepted the resignation of the DOT chief.

Well, I did not know that Aquino quietly appointed Lim as a Director of DBP after he accepted his resignation for causing an embarrassment at the DOT. Now as Director of DBP, once more he causes an untold embarrassment to the Aquino presidency and his slogan Daang Matuwid. So will the DBP Directors and officials return the nearly P300 million in bonuses that they gifted themselves? Shame on Daang Matuwid!

It is for this reason why the anointed one of Pres. Aquino, former DILG Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas has not increased his ratings in many surveys simply because he is like an Aquino parrot who always tells his audience that he could continue with the Daang Matuwid programs of Aquino.

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This coming February 17th, the members of the Cebu Country Club will have a very important meeting to map out its future. Now I should not be writing this simply because the CCC is a private club and the public would not have anything to do with how the members decide regarding the future of the club. While it is true that CCC is a private club, however the 45-hectare golf course, which used to be outside the city limits of Cebu City is no longer in the country but in the middle of Cebu City and it plays an important role in the economy of Cebu City.

First of all, CCC pays a huge amount of Realty Taxes, which is nearly P900,000 per month, which goes to the coffers of the City of Cebu. Secondly, CCC despite it being strictly for members only, it has allowed foreign tourists to play in this very exclusive golf club and help in Cebu City's Tourism industry. Finally, the CCC is one of Cebu City's only remaining open and green spaces, which are of vital importance to the city for environmental purposes and it provides a healthy breathing space because of the trees inside the golf course. Also many of the creeks like the Mahiga Creek pass there.

We used to have the old Club Filipinos Golf Club, which was sold to the Ayala Group and we lost that open space to become a concrete jungle. However, the CCC members are not selling this property. We are only meeting to come up with how to refurbish the golf course and prepare it for the future of the club and the future of Cebu.

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