I am glad that the Senate is investigating the unusual volume of foreign trips of Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Camilo Sabio. It has been observed that Sabio always travels accompanied by his wife, his secretary, and favorite Commissioner Bautista, a former ambassador.

There was this foreign trip of Sabio to Brazil or Argentina which was not official PCGG business per se, but to attend a conference of the International Law Association, of which Sabio was an elected president of the Philippine branch. Records will show that I questioned this particular trip as justice secretary who has supervisory jurisdiction over PCGG, and many succeeding trips ostensibly for the purpose of conferring with PCGG’s foreign lawyers. But despite my objections, Sabio and Bautista always seemed to get away with their junkets anyway. Indeed, I believe it’s about time that a proper accounting and report be made about these trips and what has been accomplished for the PCGG and the country, how much the PCGG spent for these trips. If the funds came from sources other than PCGG, then Sabio’s sources should be revealed. We expect this investigation to be fruitful and informative and I am willing to be a resource person to help the Senate with my own experience with the PCGG chairman’s frequent junkets.

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MORE than one year ago – specifically on June 12, 2008 – this columnist opined that then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was anticipating a break-up with his Lakas allies in Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Treñas and Vice-Mayor Jed Mabilog. That early, Raul knew that even if his son’s bill redistricting the city into two would pass the House, it would not hurdle the Senate. Hence, the possibility of Congressman Raul Gonzalez, Jr. defending his turf against the outgoing mayor.

I also wrote that the elder Gonzalez, having announced his intention to run for mayor in 2010, was anticipating battle with the ambitious Jed. No wonder he denounced Jed on cable TV over the latter’s questionable income of Canadian $250,000.00 (or almost P11 million) per month from donations channeled through Haligi Foundation. Despite that oral defamation, Jed maintained his alliance with the then powerful Department of Justice (DOJ) head.

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JUSTICE is served to Marlou Pasco, a dismissed employee of City Square Iloilo.

In a decision penned by Labor Arbiter Rene G. Eñano, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC-6) on May 28, 2009 reinstated Marlou Pasco.

The NLRC 6 said City Square failed to justify that retrenchment is necessary to prevent more significant financial losses brought about by Typhoon Frank and the economic crises besetting our country.

In sum, Eñano said that of the three (3) requisites of a valid retrenchment, respondent has only complied with the notice requirement. It failed to comply with the presentation of evidence to prove losses and to pay complainant his separation pay. Respondent failed to validate its position of retrenchment due to losses.

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THE YEAR was 1985 when I first watched the TV documentary on how the song, “We are the world,” was made, line by line, note by note, part by part. While watching the final version being sung by 45 pop artists, individually in parts and as a chorus, plus the images of hunger and poverty, I had a very profound experience. The earth broke open, the landscape in my heart moved and I sank to the floor and wept.

Being more of a classical music listener, I was not a Michael Jackson follower, but I can say that I bought at least one Jackson recording, and that was “We are the world.” I still have the “USA for Africa” album in cassette tape (no CDs then) where it is the lead song. (USA stands for United Support of Artists.) There are nine other songs (not by Jackson) in the cassette but it was “We are the world” that I played over and over. Buying the album meant taking part in a huge fund-raising for a cause. And every time I played the song and sang along, I felt one with the world and the universe. It became my anthem.

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THE LAST-MINUTE withdrawal of the Filipino partner of the Smartmatic consortium, which was awarded the contract for the full automation of the 2010 election, has threatened the collapse of the project, raising the nightmare of falling back to the generations-old manual voting system.

Taking the Commission on Elections and the consortium by complete surprise, Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) told Comelec Chairman Jose Melo that it was pulling out of the project because of “irreconcilable differences” with its foreign partner.

The pullout threw a spanner on preparations for automation of what is considered the most primitive electoral system among modern democracies. It shocked Melo so much that he threatened to sue TIM criminally and seek civil damages for its action.

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WHAT are we in power for?” was a famous statement always made by some abusive government officials that made them down and unpopular.

But even as this statement was not exactly uttered by Gov. Niel Tupas, since he knows the political cost to him, this statement is being lived, day in and day out, by those in power and position.

Just recently, Governor Tupas grabbed the headlines once more when his escort vehicle was caught using unauthorized car siren. While his bodyguard was accused of carrying a .9mm caliber pistol with expired gun permit. The entire controversy stemmed from a simple traffic altercation. But when C/Insp. Orly Gabinete, Jaro police chief, ordered to confiscate the siren of the governor’s vehicle and the firearm of his security named SPO1 Eugenio Beiren, the governor allegedly flared up.

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It is commonly recognized that Iloilo’s major development and greatest prosperity were caused primarily by the boom in the sugar industry in the West Visayan region. This was in turn brought about by the opening of Iloilo’s port to international trade in 1855.

With incentives given to sugar production, plantations in the region, especially in Negros Occidental, expanded very rapidly. With this major development, the Iloilo port served as storage, trading center, transloading station and exporter of sugar produced throughout the area.

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IN his farm program Owa Mangunguma over Aksyon Radyo last Saturday, Philippine Coconut Authority Administrator Oscar Garin consented to answer an oft-asked political question that a listener had “texted” through co-host Junjun Sornito: Would the former congressman go back to politics in 2010?

“You will know in the last week of July,” Oca intoned. “I might run for governor.” To be governor of Iloilo has been Garin’s illusive dream, having been congressman many times from the Cory Aquino to the Gloria Arroyo administrations. His only loss was against re-electionist Governor Niel Tupas in 2004.

He added that he had not made up his mind yet because outgoing Congressman and ex-Governor Arthur Defensor, who had already announced his intention to retake the capitol, is his “amigo.” The other contender is Barotac Viejo Mayor Raul “Boboy” Tupas, son of another “amigo.”

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IT’S TOO soon to forget that tampering with election results can bring disastrous consequences to dictatorial regimes.

As the Commission on Elections (Comelec) comes under increasing public pressure to install a fraud-proof automated vote count system, warnings have intensified that a fraudulent election in May 2010 could spark a revolution.

The warnings are not without empirical basis. Fears have been voiced over whether adequate safeguards have been made by Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp., the Barbados-based consortium which won the tender to carry out the computerized polling for the first time on a nationwide scale since 1907.

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THE worst is over for Philippine banks.

The banking industry’s performance in the first quarter of 2009 was impressive indeed, with a few major players posting double-digit growth rates in revenues and profits.

Traditional revenue streams, like interest income and fees and commissions, all posted significant increases.

There was a drop in profits in 2009, though. The main reason was the loss of income from trading securities. But the first-quarter results showed some banks posting double-digit increases in income from trading securities and foreign-exchange gains.

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