EPCC NEWS June 17, 2013 As the Dust and the Floods Settled After the successful Independence Day grand parade at Historic Filipinotown and the flurry of activities about the 115th PH Independence Day, the Consulate General went on an propaganda spree congratulating itself for “spearheading the parade.” Notably absent in its press releases is its original community partner--the Filipino American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA). So that the people may know FACLA is the consulate ‘s original partner in planning and executing the event in Historic Filipinotown. as early as February. I can say that is very common Filipino trait. As the song goes: “Ako ang nagtanim , ang nagbayo at nagsaing. Subalit ng maluto ay iba ang kumain.” And thePhilippine Consulate in LA is no exception. As the saying goes, victory has many fathers while defeat is an orphan. ** I Others who were still in euphoria about the success of the first grand parade proposed to do a motorcade from Historic Filipinotown to Carson in June 2014. When I asked why they answered ; “The Rizal Monument is there.” My oh my, my hunch is that organizations from Historic Filipinotown will not go for it. Besides, its Carson who draw the first blood whey they tried to do their own Independence Day in Carson despite the appeals from the Consulate for unity. As a token, the City of Carson gave certificate to the Consul General at the Grand Ball at the Sheraton last June 15. Mending broken fences or an act of good will? You can pick what you like. *** Senator Franklin Drilon, the guest speaker and guest of honor at the 115th Kalayaan Grand Ball in Los Angeles besides painting a rosy picture of the Philippines, He cannot help but answer the line of attack of many political analyst about the much vaunted advances by the Aquino III administration. And this is about on “jobless growth “ and the fact that the ordinary people cannot feel the progress the media is talking about. He cited that the “impressive economic data and positive economic outlook alleviate the plight of the poorest of the poor. That the government increased the budget of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (CCTP) to help 3.8 million “ By the way the CTPP was a carry-over of the Arroyo Administration. Drilon also cited the “infrastructure development and public construction increased t0 29.8% in 2012 and further by 45.6% in the first quarter of 2013.” ** The incoming Senate President also mentioned that in “ the political front , the Aquino administration forged a landmark framework agreement with the MILF.” He also cited the “need to to end all armed conflicts particularly with the communist.” What he was not able to read or hear was the latest news from the homeland that the MILF was complaining about the delay on the negotiations as the OPAAP and the GPH panel are dragging their foot on the peace talks in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the NDF Chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni has stated that “The NDF is willing to wait for the next president who will replace Aquino III. Besides, they said it will Aquino has only three years left in office. What a foreboding for the cause of peace within the next years. *** As the thypoon season started, again, for the umpteh time, Manila and even central Mindanao provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato is flooded and as usual, the blame game has begun. The engineers blame the Metro Manila Authority while the MMDA blames the DPWH engineers. But the buck started in Malacanang when President Benigno Aquino 3rd axed in November 2010 one of the country’s most ambitious flood-control projects that was scheduled to start that year. If he had not cancelled that milestone undertaking, it would have been completed last month [July 2012] and would have significantly mitigated the disastrous flooding of recent weeks. The venture was the Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project, which, as part of its plan to save the lake, would have dredged it of 4.6 million cubic meters of silt and waste so it would contain more floodwaters. The project would have also involved the deepening of the critical 7-kilometer Napindan Channel in Taytay so that it could better and more quickly draw floodwaters away from the metropolis to the lake. ** According to the Manila Times ; “Costing P18.7 billion, the project was to be undertaken by the 150-year-old Belgian dredging firm Baagerwerken Decloedt En Zoon (BDZ) and financed by a loan from the BNP Paribas Fortis bank, with Brussels providing a P7-billion grant—the biggest development aid it would have given the country ever. A much deeper Laguna de Bay would relieve residents of Metro Manila, Rizal and Laguna of the flooding that happened at the height of [Tropical Storm] Ondoy and [Typhoon] Pepeng,” Laguna Gov. Jorge Ejercito, an ardent supporter of the project, summed up the aim of the planned massive dredging—in September 2010." ** So guys stop blaming each other guys and let the buck stop in Malacanang! Why did Mr. Aquino cancel such a crucial project? This is because of his irrational, apoplectic bias that everything his predecessor did or planned was corrupt. Just a few months after he assumed office, Mr. Aquino claimed that the project was a “midnight” corrupt deal during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration. ** According also to the Manila Times column : “ On the other hand, then Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme vouched for the project’s integrity, and even submitted to Mr. Aquino an independent engineering firm’s evaluation of the project. As I understand from the report of this expert, which is enclosed, the project can be an undeniable improvement for the Metro Manila area and alleviate flooding, improve local transport infrastructure and increase water capacity,” Leterme wrote in a letter to Mr. Aquino in March 2011.” Leterme, now deputy secretary general of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, appealed to Mr. Aquino to allow the Belgian contractor to respond to the allegations against the project. Mr. Aquino rebuffed Leterme. Instead, he ramped up his opprobrium against the project, saying as recently as last week that the project was a “big joke” since it would “just dump silt to be recovered to another portion of the lake.” (In his memorandum canceling the project, though, Mr. Aquino gave no explanation for his action.)” ** Fish pen operators in the lake, environmentalist NGOs, and most of the political leadership of towns around Laguna de Bay passionately pushed for the undertaking, since it would have stopped the lake’s environmental deterioration and lead to the transformation of the lakeshore into a modern area with fish ports, ferry terminals, and marina complexes. Other than Mr. Aquino and Sen. Franklin Drilon who claimed “dredging is a rich source of corruption,” the main opposition to the project came from Pamalakaya, . a group of fisher folks who are greatly affected by the project. The Manila Times story goes, things gets worse. “As a result of Mr. Aquino’s reckless, unilateral cancellation of the project, P6 billion of taxpayers’ money could be lost. Firstly, government has to pay by the end of this month the P420-million penalty for the cancellation of the bank loan. IF the Philippines loses the case, it would be P5 billion down the drain, an amount that if had been used for the flood-control project would have alleviated the misery of millions of Manila residents by this time. So far, the government has reportedly nearly spent P500 million in legal fees and expenses of its Washington-based counsel White and Case and local counsel Justice Florentino P. Feliciano.” **
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:01:32 +0000
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