Archive for the ‘america’ Category
the dacer whodunit
i had just typed in the title of this post and was making buwelo to share my thoughts on the lacson-estrada senate showdow in the context of the dacer-corbito murders nang nabulaga ako kay senador miriam defensor santiago looking good in a yellow suit (!) and in fighting form, taking on the u.s. of a. no less, president obama no less, and calling for the abrogation and renegotiation of the visiting forces agreement, yey, ang saya, it’s about time, mabuhay si miriam! that was a good speech, covered all the bases, a must-read for every thinking filipino who truly wants change. america is part of our problem. america is the elephant, the gorilla, the dambuhala in the room that we don’t talk about.
it is even said that you have to be amboy (amgirl) to win the presidency of the philippines. someone correct me if i’m wrong that estrada was the exception; he won even if america didn’t want him to win. and now that he’s bent on running for president again, i wouldn’t be surprised if america is helping either the administration or the opposition, or both, to harass him into dropping out of the race. which brings me back to the dacer case.
back in march, herman tiu laurel asked:
Why has the US opened the way for the return of Mancao and Dumlao at this time? Of course, we know that the US has always meddled in our affairs. But why this particular case?
Reliable military intelligence sources we talked to insist that the affidavits of Mancao and Dumlao will implicate Estrada, as what Michael Ray Aquino’s will later do. They are convinced that this campaign, which involves the US, vividly betrays Uncle Sam’s fear of Estrada as being the only serious obstacle to its 2010 plan of installing a new Gloria Arroyo puppet in the guise of someone invited to Obama’s National Prayer Breakfast no less?
but, if so, it would seem that gma isn’t playing along with america, not the way the dept of justice is rather assiduously trying to pin the murders on lacson instead. so wazzup wazzup? what’s the deal between gma and erap? bati na ba sila? bakit nila pinagtutulungan si ping? even fvr’s joe almonte has jumped in, also making diin ping lacson based on dacer’s letters daw, and dacer allegedly having told a daughter that if anything were to happen to him, ping would be to blame.
and yet there are these very intriguing stories about fvr and almonte. check out politicaljunkie’s A few things you might find interesting about the Bubby Dacer case, which includes sol vanzi’s newsflash report about general almonte . . .
DACERS ASKED TO COMMENT ON PRIEST’S EXPOSE
Manila, April 9, 2001 – The family of public relations man Salvador “Bubby” Dacer was asked yesterday to comment on the statements of a Parañaque priest over the possible knowledge of former President Ramos and his national security adviser Jose Almonte in Dacer’s disappearance.
The opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino said yesterday: “We appeal to the Dacer family to come out and confirm or deny Fr. (Gabriel) Baldostamon’s statement. We understand the pain they must feel at the continued disappearance of their father, but they must come out in order to help shed light on this matter. Don’t be afraid of Ramos and Almonte.”
Fr. Baldostamon is the parish priest of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary church in Sun Valley Subd. where the Dacer family lives.
He claimed to have heard Almonte “consoling” the Dacer family that should they recover or “arrange” for Dacer’s release, they would spirit him out to the United States and make it appear that he was still missing.
Baldostamon said Almonte made the statement in a breakfast meeting with the Dacer family about 10 days after his disappearance.
“Did Almonte really say that?” the LDP asked. “If he did, he must explain his intentions for doing so and why did he sound as if he had contact with Dacer’s abductors?”
. . . and also herman tiu laurel’s Investigate Almonte, about president ramos.
The story is now told to close friends by the Dacer children, Ampy and Sabina, that the Ramos visit to Dacer’s office on that fateful day of the disappearance was very uncharacteristic. In the many years of Dacer and Ramos’ professional dealings, never once did Ramos visit Dacer’s office. But on the day of Dacer’s kidnapping Ramos did, and after only an hour of waiting he started making it too obvious he was concerned—by calling media about his alarm over Dacer’s disappearance.
It could have just been traffic, a flat tire or engine trouble, a sudden family emergency, a bum stomach, an extended breakfast meeting, or a hundred other small possibilities that delayed Dacer for an hour. With cell phone service the way it is today, and service providers undermining each other by delaying interconnections or with cell sites jammed or down, an hour’s wait to get a cell phone connection happens quite frequently. So, delayed cell phone contact is not sufficient reason to panic and call media . . .
so why haven’t the media been following up on these? takot ba sila kay almonte? takot ba sila kay fvr? what if ping and erap are innocent pala? and we’re just being taken for a ride? to what end?
of course it doesn’t make sense that dumlao and mancao are involved if it were an fvr-almonte operation. but we don’t know enough to rule anything out. even dumlao and mancao keep changing their statements daw. involved ba talaga sila, o nagpapanggap lang.
“Not known to many who are following this case, Cezar Mancao and Glen Dumlao, to date have executed three sworn statements each. In this case, the contents of the affidavits are modified at each turn, and it would take some patience and perhaps extra-professional expertise to separate the grains of truth from the specks of dirt in the testimonies given by both affiants,” Lacson said.
as for dacer himself, i have no idea how he operated or who his clients were, only that he was the top public-relations guy in political manila with awesome access to the media, and he could make anyone smell good and look good.
but i do have an idea what public relations work is like. you have to take your client’s side, with conviction, and you try not to take on clients with opposing positions para walang conflict of interest. that is, if you want to stay sane and whole and credible. easier said than done, i know, especially if you’re dealing with, and handling, presidents with huge egos. how do you say no to a president (former or incumbent) without incurring his royal ire. read fel maragay’s Man in White.
. . . Dacer, a handsome, bemoustached Spanish-looking mestizo, could hardly write journalistic pieces. But the glib-tongued Bicolano was gifted with exceptional social skills, a knack for befriending fellowmen—perhaps his most important asset that enabled him to climb to the top in his chosen profession. When big-time businessmen were locked in make-or-break competition or feud with rivals over a major project and they needed an expert in crisis PR, the name of Dacer would usually crop up. Crisis PR was his forte.
The flamboyant PR practitioner was often described as “the man in white” because he was always clad in an all-white attire. But his detractors snickered that he was the “devil in white” because of the devious scheme that he purportedly employed to attack the targets of some of his covert PR operations.
In the early 1990s, Dacer held office in a small corner at the ground floor of the Manila Hotel. But his enterprise started to ride high after Fidel Ramos assumed the presidency. He became the private publicist of Ramos and of Ramos’ most trusted Cabinet member, then National Security Adviser Jose Almonte. Not long after, Dacer transferred to a spacious room on the second floor of the hotel. He handled the PR work for the Swiss firm, Societe General de Surveillance, which had a P4-billion annual contract with the Bureau of Customs for the valuation of imported goods. He became a point man or liaison between the Philippines and Taiwan, a chore which he handled with gusto. His services were also tapped by several public officials and private individuals, as well as prominent business firms.
During the 1998 presidential elections, Ramos tried to persuade Dacer to help in the campaign of a principal ally, then House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. the Lakas standard-bearer. But Dacer begged off, opting to stay neutral because the strongest candidate, Joseph Estrada, was his kumpadre.
When Estrada became president, Dacer maintained cordial relations with him. He was occasionally asked by the then President to do some PR assignments for his administration. Dacer enjoyed easy access to the Palace, from time to time accompanying foreign businessmen during courtesy calls to the President in which investments plans were usually discussed. Dacer loved to tell people that his friendship with Estrada dated back to the days when he was a multi-awarded movie actor. Estrada played godfather when Dacer’s daughter Ampy was baptized. And when Ampy got married, Estrada was one of the wedding sponsors.
Despite his association with Estrada, the kind of political influence Dacer wielded at that time paled in comparison with the one he enjoyed during the Ramos presidency. Estrada somewhat kept him at a distance, perhaps because he was not sure of Dacer’s loyalty, due to his long association with Ramos and Almonte. When the Estrada government unleashed a persecution campaign against Ramos over the so-called multi-billion pesos Expo scam and other anomalies, Dacer clumsily watched from the sidelines, cautiously steering clear of the raging conflict between two men dear to him.
Dacer’s troubles began when he was dragged into the rift between then National Police director general Roberto Lastimoso and then Chief Supt. (now senator) Panfilo Lacson, who was at that time head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force. Lastimoso’s hold on the top PNP post turned shaky amid allegation that he was remiss in his duty in going after a suspected drug lord. He sought Dacer’s help in the media war and the PR man came to his rescue. But Lastimoso lost the fight and was eventually replaced by Lacson as PNP chief . . .
in the end, minalas si dacer. maybe he knew too much. maybe he had become a threat. maybe he couldn’t be trusted anymore.
but what if the demolition job on ping lacson is more of the same, because he knows too much, because he has become a threat, the way he keeps shooting his mouth off in the senate.
in that case, i’d say he’s doing the right thing. i suggest a pahabol privilege speech on the bentain case, the fvr-almonte connection, even the american connection, and anything else relevant that he knows of. so if anything should happen to him (cross our fingers, knock on wood) we’d have a better idea whom (or whom-whom) to blame.
WORRY, BE HAPPY
Satur Sulit
the trouble in theory with American democracy
is its childish devotion to the pursuit of being happy
what is happiness after all but fleeting and immeasurable
happiness at what cost would make it so valuable?
the possibilities are limited only by your creativity
whatever makes you happy is protectable activity
until you are caught for something reprehensible
and must answer for your actions if you are able
the result is America has the most prisoners of any country
all guilty of one crime, they only wanted to be happy
smith walks free
anc breaking news around 5 p.m.: u.s. marine in subic rape case acquitted.
The Court of Appeals (CA) on Thursday acquitted US Marines Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of raping a Filipina in Subic back in 2005, and ordered released immediately.
The ruling was part of the 71-page decision penned by Justice Monina Zenarosa of the CA’s Special 11th Division.
wasn’t it just a couple of days ago when the supreme court was ordering the court of appeals to investigate in 90 days the leak of a draft decision acquitting smith, sabay order smith’s lawyer to explain in 10 days why nicole’s “recantation” was notarized at his lawfirm?
The Supreme Court has ordered the Court of Appeals to investigate the leak of a supposed draft decision reversing US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith’s conviction for the rape of a Filipino woman in 2005.
In a resolution, the Supreme Court First Division also ordered Smith’s lawyer, Jose Justiniano, to explain why the victim “Nicole’s” supposed recantation was notarized at the Sycip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan law office, to which Justiniano belongs.
so the court of appeals no longer recognizes the authority of the supreme court? so the court of appeals is now (as ever?) heeding a higher power? a higher power na masyadong nagmamadali. i wonder what the chief justice has to say to that.
and i wonder what the trade-off is for gloria. gloria forever? ngek.
nicole did not recant
what a shocker naman talaga. it was bad enough hearing, first, that she had fired her lawyer evalyn ursua AND that she had left for the u.s., of all places. it got progressively more scandalizing as the news trickled out that she had settled with smith for a hundred thou php and *omgwtf* that she had recanted *gasp*!
a day later i’m clearer about that 100k — it’s in compliance naman pala with the court order that found smith guilty of rape and liable to nicole for civil (50K php) and moral (50K php) damages, so that’s fine. whether she left or she stayed, she had that money coming to her. in my book she deserved more, and if she did get more, then good for her.
i’m also clearer about the so-called recantation, which is not a recantation at all — shame on everyone who calls it so. nicole did not recant. to recant would have been to deny now her original testimony. to recant would have been to say now that it was all a lie, she wasn’t drunk, she remembers it all, the sex was consensual. SHE SAID NOTHING OF THE SORT.
at most nicole ruminates on old questions raised by the defense at the trial. she acknowledges that under the influence of alcohol she may have behaved inappropriately — which may have led smith to think that she wanted sex. also she considers the defense line that if smith had intended to rape her he would not have so openly carried her out of the club into the van for all the world to see, so maybe he thought it was consensual?
so she behaved inappropriately under the influence of mixed drinks — but she also says, so did others in the club where there was a lot of kissing and hugging going on, and, i’m sure, dirty dancing, and no one else got raped. i think smith was just really horny and on white arrogant macho mode — youdon’tmesswithmeandgetawaywithitshit — never mind that the girl clearly was so drunk she couldn’t walk straight, much less do anything of her own volition. the affidavit only makes this clearer.
finally she asks, if i was so drunk why did i suddenly become un-drunk when they dumped me on the sidewalk? aba, kahit sino mahihimasmasan, matatauhan, pag biglang nagbago ang takbo ng mga pangyayari, from private to public, from warm to cold, from sounds to silence. her alcohol-drowned mind was on party mode, even the van was on party mode, with music and cheering and clapping. when she was dumped, the music stopped, the party was over, she’s suddenly alone, lying on a public sidewalk — the semento must have felt cold to her naked butt, and people were gathering around, someone was calling her a bitch, time to come to her senses, a matter of self-defense, of survival, what a rude awakening.
so, again, that affidavit wasn’t a retraction, rather, an affirmation, by which account, smith is no less guilty of rape. let’s give nicole credit for managing to please smith’s camp — enough to acquire a u.s. visa perhaps — but without recanting. that took some smarts. good for us.
i’m sorry she’s gone but she has her own life to live, her own karma to work out. if she were my daughter, like susan i would let her go, even insist on it. obviously she has a karmic connection with america (american soldiers in particular). until (like any fil-am) she works that out, she cannot be expected to do more for inang lupa than she has already done for the anti-vfa campaign. mabuhay si nicole.
so long, gloria? 2
that unscheduled, and failed, trip to washington tells me how desperate gloria is for a one-on-one with the u.s. president. i suspect she was all set to request that obama order the world bank to back off, cease and desist from, releasing any more information re corrupt practices related to infrastructure projects of her government, especially the report that points to hubby mike arroyo’s involvement.
in return kaya for what? what was gloria prepared to offer that president obama might not have been able to resist? maybe the acquittal of rapist corporal daniel smith? maybe charter change and the lifting of economic restrictions? maybe charter change and federalism and the signing of the moa-a.d.? maybe charter change and the return of u.s.military bases?
suddenly i’m beginning to think that there’s more to the rumor that the u.s. wants gloria out and noli in, sooner than later, the better to foil an erap return, and that the world bank report is a big part of the effort to discredit the arroyos and agitate the people. after all, it is the u.s. that is the power behind the world bank. writes george monbiot in The Age of Consent – A Manifesto for a New World Order, 2003, page 16:
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are supposed to assist impoverished nations to build and defend their economies, are run on the principle of one dollar, one vote. To pass a substantial resolution or to amend the way they operate requires an eighty-five per cent majority. The United States alone, which possesses more than fifteen per cent of the stock in both organizations, can block a resolution supported by every other member state. This means, in practice, that these two bodies will pursue only those policies in the developing world which are of benefit to the economy of the United States and the interest of financial speculators, even when these conflict directly with the needs of the poor.
besides, it’s not like the world bank to be so high-profile rather than behind-the-scenes in its dealings with government agencies. maybe the u.s. has finally given up on the recalcitrant arroyos? maybe they’ve already made a deal with vice president noli de castro?
but if so, the u.s. must be rethinking its options now that noli de castro has been tainted by the legacy scandal. as it turns out, legacy owner and operator celso de los angeles financed pala noli’s 2004 vice-presidential campaign and noli returned the favor in no uncertain terms. writes ducky paredes in malaya:
Can Vice President Noli de Castro’s friends in the Senate (where he was part of an influential group of senators before the 204 elections) keep his name out of the Legacy scandal? He has clear ties to Sto. Domingo, Albay Mayor Celso de los Angeles, the owner and operator of the bankrupt Legacy Group of Companies.
Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos lost hard-earned money in Legacy’s fraudulent investment firm and rural banks. Can they actually forgive Noli de Castro’s role in their worst-ever experience? These people lost their life savings to someone who campaigned for Noli and was rewarded with a high post in Noli’s housing programs.
Of course, the Vice President is now distancing himself from De los Angeles after the latter’s grilling by the Senate for the questionable operations of the Legacy group and his companies’ investigation by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But no matter how De Castro disowns Delos Angeles, the damage to his squeaky-clean image has been done.
Noli De Castro admits that Delos Angeles financed his 2004 vice presidential campaign, caused the printing of his campaign materials, and even bought a tabloid to help sell him to voters.
So, immediately after De Castro assumed the vice presidency, he promptly endorsed De los Angeles as head of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC).
By paying a political debt to De los Angeles, De Castro not only epitomized everything despicable about traditional politics. De Castro also helped De los Angeles lure more unsuspecting investors and depositors into putting their money in Legacy.
How does the Vice President connect to the Legacy mess by his acceptance of the 2004 election funding from Delos Angeles and his endorsement of the businessman to NHMFC?
Simple. When De Castro endorsed De los Angeles, he vouched for the latter’s integrity, leading people to conclude that De los Angeles and his Legacy Group must be clean for having been given a seal of approval by De Castro, no matter how indirectly.
In fact, although Noli had no qualms dropping De los Angeles like a hot potato, it may not have been because of complaints to Gloria Arroyo that Celso was the worst thing to happen to her housing program, we hear that the two friends had already reached a state of enmity over a pretty young thing. Of course, the TV talent chose the more powerful of the two (and refused to return the jewelry that the other gave her as gifts).
How ironic that they were both working in the Pag-ibig program. Ang pag-ibig nga naman!
With the discovery of the dubious operations of the Legacy Group, shouldn’t the Senate do what it should have done a long time ago – investigate De los Angeles’ stint as head of NHMFC to uncover possible anomalies? In fact, isn’t it about time that they take a hard look at their former colleague’s work at Pag-Ibig and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council?
Are they afraid that they may find that the foundation of our Housing Program is infested with termites like Celso and other Noli friends?
and then, again, what if mababaw (sort of) ang kaligayahan ng mga kano? what if their attitude is, anyone but gloria? what if, as jeg suggests, the u.s. has the goods on noli, too, and whatever gloria offers, noli promises, too?
well, at least it will be interesting to watch, whatever happens, or doesn’t happen.