FOR the third time, former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante has lost his legal battle in the wake of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals denying his petition for asylum, thus upholding the earlier decisions handed down by the immigration court and immigration appeals board in Chicago. The Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling of the Chicago Immigration Court dismissing Bolante’s asylum request on the ground of “political persecution.”

Unless he finds a way to prolong his legal battle, the man accused of masterminding the diversion of the P728-million fertilizer fund to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidential campaign in 2004, would be deported within three months or before Christmas 2008.

Irony of ironies! Why is Joc-Joc so afraid of coming home when his boss is the President of the Philippines? Her Excellency has the power to “exempt” him from a Senate investigation.
Well, it simply shows that Joc-Joc’s concern zooms further ahead in the future, after 2010 when GMA will have moved out of Malacañang. A “protector” out of power would not even be in a position to defend herself in case an unfriendly successor takes over.

Joc-Joc is therefore afraid not of political persecution but of post-GMA prosecution. Well, Neri, hindi ka nag-iisa.

The first and only time I saw Joc-Joc was at an Iloilo City Hotel when he was meeting with local campaigners of GMA during the presidential campaign in 2004. Sorry, but I missed the fertilizer money changing hands.

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Contrary to previous announcements, Guam is not the only destination of the 385 construction workers from the 2nd District of Iloilo who comprise the first batch of on-going trainees in carpentry, masonry, wire installation, heavy equipment operation, construction painting, pipe fitting and plumbing.

While it’s true that the project was originally conceived to facilitate deployment of construction workers to work on the new US Naval Base in Guam in cooperation with the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI), Secretary Augusto Syjuco would now want to expand it to include other countries in need of Filipino skilled workers.

TESDA Secretary Boboy Syjuco has chosen the 2nd District as pilot area in view of the ever-ready cooperation he would get from Congresswoman Judy Syjuco, his better half. Training started last August 8.

The urgency to train succeeding batches of trainees stems from the swelling number of prequalified applicants, numbering 1,730. The project would eventually be replicated in other municipalities and provinces of the Philippines, according to project Regional Director Rosanna Urdaneta.

In fact, target recruitment in the second district alone is 4,000 workers – which is 20% of the 20,000 national target.

We won’t be surprised if unemployed nurses take up welding or carpentry now before House Bill 4580 turns into law.

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Talking of HB 4580, I lashed out at bill author Congressman Iggy Arroyo in a past column because the bill would disallow new doctors and nurses from working abroad without first working in Philippine hospitals or local private clinics. I said it would be superfluous for these poor souls to “sacrifice” further since they have already been exploited as hospital interns.

I learned recently even vocational workers like plumbers would have to practice their calling locally for two years before being allowed to work abroad.

You and I know that plumbers make as low as P200 a day. With such an amount that is not enough to feed a small family, why should they not fish for dollars abroad?

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