ON TARGET
A case of double cross
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
There is no doubt that President Benigno Aquino III is sincere in his “daang matuwid” (straight and narrow path) kind of governance.
What he says he does, when we see the presidential convoy wending through traffic without using sirens, the use of which he denounced in his inaugural address.
But then some of his subordinates are playing a different tune.
For example, at the Bureau of Customs, some officials allowed the entry of a little less than P500 million worth of Indian rice in exchange for a sum of money.
The customs officials were told that part of the shipment would be transhipped to Indonesia, before it arrived at the Subic Freeport, according to a customs insider.
But the customs officials learned that the rice shipment would not be transhipped and the bribe money was not proportionate to the huge shipment.
“Kulang yung perang nilagay sa kanila (The bribe was a paltry sum),” said our customs spy.
Come to think of it, why would somebody import a huge shipment of rice, which needs a government permit and would easily be detected, if they had no prior arrangement with some people at customs?
The seizure of the huge rice shipment at the Subic Freeport was a case of double cross.
* * *
At the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), everything is back to “normal,” meaning the old, corrupt setup.
An NBI official allegedly received P2 million and some of his subordinates P500,000 each after an inspecting a stockpile of rice shipment in
a warehouse in Bulacan province.
The shipment was legal as the owner showed NBI raiders documents from the National Food Authority (NFA).
But the raiders would not leave until they were given money.
Does NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas, whose appointment was made permanent by the President recently upon the recommendation of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, know this?
* * *
Rick Ramos, an ordinary
citizen, was arraigned at the Muntinlupa Municipal Trial Court yesterday on charges of destruction of property through reckless imprudence filed by Makati Prosecutor Emmanuel Medina.
Medina complained that Ramos bumped his car which his son, Evan Ephraim, was driving.
But I saw pictures of the accident and it was clear it was Medina’s car that bumped the other vehicle.
Medina must have pulled some strings at the Muntinlupa Prosecutor’s Office since his wife, Antonietta Medina, is the city’s regional trial court judge.
If so, isn’t this a case of gross abuse of power?
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