Making the right choice at the polls
As the May 9 election draws near, here’s food for thought from a Hollywood movie that might help the undecided voter make the right choice among the five presidential candidates.
It’s a monologue from the principal character in the movie “A Brand Called Crisis” starring Sandra Bullock, as noted by reader Dr. Elizabeth de Guia:
“People will have to choose between a man of no substance, a man of no experience, an everyman opportunist, who will stand by as this nation falls apart.
“Or they can choose a man… you might not like him, you might think he is an arrogant son of a bitch, but he is a fighter.
“He has grit, he has experience and he’s got balls and he is the only choice… the only choice to save the day. These are the stakes. We are trying to save people’s lives. This is no longer an election. This is a crisis.”
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One of the persons who handled the laundered $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank still has $17 million with her.
So says Sen. TG Guingona, chair of the blue ribbon committee which is investigating the laundering and trying to recover the amount.
The ones who handled the money whom the senator was referring to are former Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito and remittance firm Philrem Service Corp. owner Salud Bautista.
Bautista was caught lying by the committee and some of her stories were “bordering on the ridiculous,” according to Guingona.
In a conversation I had with my long-time friend Kim Wong on the phone, he told me that Bautista still could not account for the missing $17 million.
Wong, a casino junket operator, has turned over to the government P445,619,000 of the laundered amount that ended up with him.
He still has P250 million with him which he promised to return in two or three weeks.
It’s very clear Wong had nothing to do with the theft or laundering of the $81 million.
He says he didn’t know that the money paid to him was stolen.
When Wong learned that the money he received from his Chinese high roller guests was stolen, his immediate reaction was to return the whole amount even if he some lawyers and well-meaning friends advised him against it.
If Wong were another person, he would keep the money and probably get acquitted of money laundering by paying off the judge who would hear the case.
