With the resignation from her Cabinet post as chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Vice President Leni Robredo is now ready to lead the opposition against President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to sources within the Liberal Party, it has always been the plan to turn the LP into the number one opposition party with Robredo at the helm, she being the party’s highest-ranking elective official. “That was the strategy all along – for Robredo to become increasingly vocal in opposing the President, with her resignation also part of the plan for maximum effect,” the source said, adding that the text message from Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco simply “precipitated matters.”
Observers say the Vice President cleverly pre-empted Bongbong Marcos’ electoral protest by claiming there is a plot by the Duterte administration to “steal the vice presidency” from her, and timing it with the current protest over the Marcos burial issue at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Vice President Robredo earlier issued thinly veiled insinuations that the highest court would be used to remove her from the vice presidency. Many members of the judiciary told us that such insinuations are “unfounded and greatly disrespectful” of the institution that is the Supreme Court which has always maintained its independence from the two other branches of government.
Much earlier, the Robredo camp also made allegations about a plan to recount the votes in several areas without the approval of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET). The allegation was strongly denounced by the camp of Bongbong Marcos as a “blatant and malicious lie,” pointing out that “there is no way a recount can be done without the approval of the PET or even the Commission on Elections.”
President Duterte has often publicly said he may not even finish his six-year term for one reason or another. Apparently, this is giving the opposition, mostly coming from the yellow ribbon group, a strong impetus to seek the opportunity to get back into power.
Grand conspiracy?
Almost 15 years after the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that thumbed down the PIATCO concession agreement to manage the NAIA Terminal 3 because if was graft ridden – not to mention grossly disadvantageous to the government – the costly lessons of entering into a flawed agreement should never be forgotten.
One such flaw in the “PIATCO fiasco” was the fact that it allowed the consortium to monopolize all airport services at Terminal 3. If one can recall, Speaker Bebot Alvarez also figured in the controversy since he was MIAA assistant general manager (and later became Transportation chief) when the contract was awarded to PIATCO because a company named Wintrack Builders (which Alvarez and his wife owned) became a subcontractor and supposedly profited from an excess of P76.4 million for doing “site clearing work.”
Sources say the original proponents of the PIATCO fiasco are allegedly trying to monopolize airport services, to the detriment of investors. This can be seen in the continued legal maneuvers of People’s Air Cargo and Warehousing Inc. or Paircargo – a sister company – against Cathay Pacific (CX) that has been engaged in a decade-long legal battle to assert its right to choose another cargo handler.
It can be recalled that Paircargo resorted to legal bullying from the time CX indicated its intention to get another cargo handler in 2004, with Paircargo asserting that the contract was good until 2007. When the said period came, the local company again used a Pasay City court to issue a writ of injunction, saying the contract was valid until 2010 – with the exhausting legal battle forcing CX to agree to a compromise agreement for Paircargo’s services to continue until March this year.
Paircargo lost in the bidding recently conducted by CX for a new handling agreement, but the Hong Kong-based airline is still being deprived of its right to choose a new local handler because Paircargo has gone running to the same Pasay City court again. This use of political connections and even the court system to keep a stranglehold on the industry has reportedly alarmed foreign and domestic airlines – to the point that they have come up with a position paper sent to NEDA and the DOTr, urging safeguards against future privatization without the requisite checks and balances.
There is also talk about an alleged plot to remove Transportation Secretary Art Tugade and USec for Aviation Bobby Lim – despite the enhancements in NAIA that has resulted in improved time performance for Cebu Pacific by 40 percent. Some lawmakers reportedly want Bobby Lim to be “disqualified” from his position because of his work with IATA or the International Airline Transport Association – a group that represents the world’s airlines. “So what is the problem there? Bobby is a professional whose understanding of international aviation puts him in a great position to make a positive difference,” an observer commented.
Sweet news for chocolate lovers
People with a sweet tooth will be happy to know that Nestle has discovered a revolutionary way to reduce the amount of sugar in chocolate by as much as 40 percent without altering the taste. Reports say the new process will structure sugar differently, making it dissolve faster so that even when smaller amounts are used, people will still taste the same level of sweetness.
The sad news, however, is that this faster-dissolving sugar will only be used in Nestle products starting 2018.
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