LIM TO VETO OIL DEPOT ORDINANCE
MANILA, Philippines – Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim vowed yesterday to veto a draft city ordinance seeking to allow the retention of the Pandacan oil depot.
Speaking to reporters at Manila City Hall, Lim said he was not consulted about the proposed ordinance, which is still pending at the Manila City Council.
“I also stated if the draft (Ordinance 7177) reaches my table and I see that it contravenes the ruling of the Supreme Court, then I will veto it,” he said.
“Attempts to link me to the issue on the city ordinance reclassifying the land use of the portions of land where Pandacan oil depots are located, into a commercial zone and implicitly granting the big three oil companies their continued operation in the area, are so dubious in terms of timing and intent, not to mention very misleading in content,” Lim added.
Lim said Ordinance 8027, passed on Nov. 20, 2001; the memorandum of understanding between the Department of Energy and the City of Manila extending the period of their stay at the Pandacan oil depot for another six months; and Ordinance 8119, passed in June 2006, further extending the oil firms’ stay to seven years were approved by his predecessor, now Environment Secretary Lito Atienza.
“To briefly discuss the above-mentioned ordinances authored and passed by then and now Councilors Joy Dawis-Asuncion, Ma. Lourdes ‘Bonjay’ Isip-Garcia, Manuel Zarcal, who are now acting as saviors and crusaders of the issue, which in truth and in fact have been created by themselves, it would be deemed that their crusade to stop the oil depots now is in conflict with what they have proposed and passed during the previous administration,” he said.
Lim said draft Ordinance 7177 was meant to benefit other companies like Philippine Match Co. (Phimco) Industries, Inc., Unilever Philippines, San Miguel Gas Plant, Manila Plastic Co.
Philmco made the request initially to be granted to stay in Manila, he added.
Lim said the big three oil companies were mentioned to create a big controversy.
Lim said Ordinance 8027 reclassified certain portions of Pandacan and Punta, Sta. Ana from industrial to commercial, and owners of industrial firms were given six months to move out.
Civil society group sues Manila dads
The civil society group Social Justice Society (SJS) filed yesterday an administrative complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against the 20 Manila councilors who supported draft Ordinance 7177.
The complainants are SJS legal counsel Vladimir Alarique Cabigao, Rhodele Gabac, Joel Escandor, Aida Martija, all officers and members of Advocates for Environmental and Social Justice.
The SJS sued Manila Councilors Arlene Koa, Ernesto Dionisio, Erick Ian Nieva, Moises Lim, Jesus Fajardo, Rolando Valeriano, Carlo Lopez, Ernesto Isip Jr., John Martin Nieto, Edward Maceda, Victoriano Melendez, Maria Sheilah Lacuna-Pangan, Louisito Chua, Josefina Siscar, Raymund Yupangco, Roderick Valbuena, Luciano Veloso, Danilo Victor Lacuna Jr., Salvador Philip Lacuna and John Russel Benedict Ibay.
The complainants said that on March 5, Koa filed with the city council a draft ordinance seeking to amend Ordinance 8027 by reverting to industrial classification the land use of the Pandacan oil depot.
The complainants said Ordinance 8027 was already upheld by the Supreme Court as a valid exercise of the police power of the city government.
The draft ordinance was passed on second reading by all the respondents on March 19, the complaint added.
“The foregoing act of respondents, of circumventing the (Supreme Court’s) decision by enacting an amending ordinance to Ordinance 8027, was made in bad taste and in bad faith,” read the complaint.
The petitioners said they requested for official transcripts of the proceedings but were never provided with copies.
Rosales to Lim: Intervene with oil depot issue
By Dennis Carcamo – Philippine Star March 25, 2009 02:27 PM
MANILA, Philippines — More than 70,000 residents who could be affected by the continued stay of the Pandacan Oil Depot were not consulted by local lawmakers regarding the matter, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales revealed today.
In a letter to Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Rosales said residents of Punta, Sta. Ana, living near the oil depots were not informed of the city council’s plan to amend the zoning ordinance that will allow hazardous industries to operate in the area.
“They say that there was no consultation with them…their side on the matter was not considered,” Rosales said.
He also advised Lim to intervene before the council passes the proposed measure, which could have detrimental effects to the environment and the health of the people living in the area.
“Hastily acting on these amendments may only prove detrimental and more costly in the long run,” Rosales said.
BELOW IS THE LETTER OF CARDINAL GAUDENCIO ROSALES TO MANILA MAYOR ALFREDO LIM ABOUT CITY ORDINANCE 7177
Archdiocese of Manila Ministry on Ecology
Caritas Manila Compound
2002 Jesus St., Pandacan, Manila, Philippines
Contact Nos. (+632) 5623470
Telefax: (+632) 5619975
E-mail: ecology_rcam@yahoo.com
May 19, 2009
Honorable Alfredo Lim
Mayor
City of Manila
Dear Mayor Lim,
We, the bishops and priests of the Archdiocese of Manila in behalf of our flock and your constituents, write with respect to disturbing developments in the beautiful City of Manila. We are deeply disturbed over the passage of Ordinance 7177 which allows the continued operation and establishment of pollutive and highly pollutive industries in your City. We believe that in this day and age, these industries have no more place in the premier city of our country.
First, we are concerned over the safety, security, and well-being of residents in the affected areas of Sta. Ana and Pandacan. A massive conflagration, a terrorist attack, and an uncontrolled gas leak could easily wipe out a large number of the more than 80,000 residents living in the affected areas. We are also mindful of the deleterious effects of air and water pollution on the people in the affected areas, most of whom belong to the lower sectors of society. No amount of economic or financial gain, much less the 66 million that the City could collect from these industries, could ever answer for the countless human lives who could potentially perish from a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. That amount certainly will not be enough to compensate 80,000 lives, 40,000 lives, 10,000 lives, let alone a hundred lives.
Second, we are concerned over the safety, security, and well-being of people in adjoining cities and municipalities. The poison that these industries emit and produce will affect not only your City, but will have greater impact on the lives and well-being of people in other areas. Air and water pollution travel fast, and the effects could be more catastrophic for people along the slopes of Antipolo City or the banks of the Pasig River.
Third, Ordinance No. 7177 will negate whatever gains that have been achieved in the area of clean air, clean water, and land use legislation. It is ironic that while the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act command the phase-out of pollutive industries in the metropolis, the City Council would even go to the extent of allowing these industries to prosper in your City. Talk about respect for the rule of law. Do the councilors now think that they are above the rule of law which you have painstakingly espoused during your stint as Senator of the Republic and Mayor of the City?
Fourth, the passage of Ordinance No. 7177 shows extreme insolence and disrespect by the City Council of the Highest Court of the Land. While the City Council may have been within its rights to enact such an ordinance, the timing stinks, coming as it does on the heels of the Supreme Court decision kicking out the oil depots. What gave the councilors the right to make a mockery of the SC decision by immediately rushing an ill-conceived ordinance? Why did they enact the ordinance earlier when the SC was still adjudicating the case? The SC would not have wasted its time deciding a case that will be rendered moot and academic in the end.
We trust that you will remain true to your word that you will veto Ordinance 7177. Having been Senator and Secretary of the Republic, we believe that you will take the health and safety of the people as your number 1 priority . Please don’t fail us.
Yours sincerely,
(SGD.) +GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES
(with signatures of more than 100 priests and bishops)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
NOW THE VICTIM: LIM
WHAT’S DIRTY HARRY DOING IN DIRTY POLITICS
Alfredo Lim is in hot waters. Visibly irked by the accusations that he is not a natural born citizen, he bangs his fist on the podium during a hearing of his case in a COMELEC office. The Constitution requires that the President of the Philippines be a natural born citizen. He points to the administration party supporters as the mastermind of this demolition job against him. He singles out National Security Adviser Jose Almonte as the brains behind all these.
Lim has been branded as the "Dirty Harry" of Manila. He earned the title because of his fearless campaign against the violators of the law. He is famous for having used force and violence in confronting criminals, drug pushers, and drug lords. Asked why he resorts to the way of force, he replies, "The language known by criminals and law violators is force and violence. You can not be soft to them." Human rights advocates reacted strongly against his "spray campaign." Lim and his men went around the city of Manila spraying the walls of the house of suspected drug pushers with "Drug pusher ang nakatira dito. Alis diyan!"
A keen observer will certainly notice a twist in Alfredo Lim’s political career. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party endorsed him. Despite the issues on human rights violations raised against him by detractors, he enjoys the endorsement of Cardinal Jaime Sin and former President Corazon Aquino. Some people remember Lim as having dispersed the crowd at EDSA upon orders from Marcos. They say that Lim only defected from the Marcos side only when he saw that the latter was losing the battle.
The Sin-Aquino endorsement of Lim makes people wonder whether the EDSA personalities have pondered upon the kind of government we may have under "Dirty Harry" Lim.
Two groups have already filed petitions before the COMELEC asking that Lim be disqualified from running for the presidency on the grounds that he is not a natural born citizen. The first to file a petition was lawyer Andresito Fornier, and the second is the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). The IBP said its motive was to avoid any constitutional crisis should Lim win the presidency. In defending his citizenship, Lim has apparently begun to manifest the softer side of his person, breaking into tears in a television interview.
He revealed that he was born out of wedlock and was taken to Hospicio de San Jose to be taken cared of by the nuns. There he spent the first eight years of his life.
And one can immediately predict what happened next. Lim worked his way into high school and college. Now that sounds like a rag-to-riches type of story which we hear told by many candidates who want to endear themselves to the hearts of the masses.
Of course, Lim’s primary intention in revealing his otherwise hidden childhood story is to defend his being a natural born citizen. But that does not keep us from wondering whether he will earn the sympathy of the masa whose hearts are said to go out to the oppressed, thereby supporting them too. Nora Aunor, for example, who always played the underdog captured the hearts of mass moviegoers.
Dirty Harry Lim, the victimizer, is now the victim of what he calls dirty politics? Any bettors?
Alfredo Lim is in hot waters. Visibly irked by the accusations that he is not a natural born citizen, he bangs his fist on the podium during a hearing of his case in a COMELEC office. The Constitution requires that the President of the Philippines be a natural born citizen. He points to the administration party supporters as the mastermind of this demolition job against him. He singles out National Security Adviser Jose Almonte as the brains behind all these.
Lim has been branded as the "Dirty Harry" of Manila. He earned the title because of his fearless campaign against the violators of the law. He is famous for having used force and violence in confronting criminals, drug pushers, and drug lords. Asked why he resorts to the way of force, he replies, "The language known by criminals and law violators is force and violence. You can not be soft to them." Human rights advocates reacted strongly against his "spray campaign." Lim and his men went around the city of Manila spraying the walls of the house of suspected drug pushers with "Drug pusher ang nakatira dito. Alis diyan!"
A keen observer will certainly notice a twist in Alfredo Lim’s political career. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party endorsed him. Despite the issues on human rights violations raised against him by detractors, he enjoys the endorsement of Cardinal Jaime Sin and former President Corazon Aquino. Some people remember Lim as having dispersed the crowd at EDSA upon orders from Marcos. They say that Lim only defected from the Marcos side only when he saw that the latter was losing the battle.
The Sin-Aquino endorsement of Lim makes people wonder whether the EDSA personalities have pondered upon the kind of government we may have under "Dirty Harry" Lim.
Two groups have already filed petitions before the COMELEC asking that Lim be disqualified from running for the presidency on the grounds that he is not a natural born citizen. The first to file a petition was lawyer Andresito Fornier, and the second is the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). The IBP said its motive was to avoid any constitutional crisis should Lim win the presidency. In defending his citizenship, Lim has apparently begun to manifest the softer side of his person, breaking into tears in a television interview.
He revealed that he was born out of wedlock and was taken to Hospicio de San Jose to be taken cared of by the nuns. There he spent the first eight years of his life.
And one can immediately predict what happened next. Lim worked his way into high school and college. Now that sounds like a rag-to-riches type of story which we hear told by many candidates who want to endear themselves to the hearts of the masses.
Of course, Lim’s primary intention in revealing his otherwise hidden childhood story is to defend his being a natural born citizen. But that does not keep us from wondering whether he will earn the sympathy of the masa whose hearts are said to go out to the oppressed, thereby supporting them too. Nora Aunor, for example, who always played the underdog captured the hearts of mass moviegoers.
Dirty Harry Lim, the victimizer, is now the victim of what he calls dirty politics? Any bettors?
Manila, Dirty again!
By GEMMA CRUZ ARANETA
August 31, 2009
Last Sunday evening, I received this email from a school friend I have not seen for more than a decade now, Nelly Lichauco Fung, born in Santa Ana, Manila, and resident of Hong Kong since her marriage to Kenneth Fung in the 1960's. Nelly's father, the late Ambassador Marcial Lichauco, was one of the most illustrious Filipino diplomats.
Nelly's message: " I am sorry to trouble you with this but I don't know who else to write to! For many many months now, the ladies toilet in the departure area near Gate 7 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has not had proper running water. For some time I ignored it, but last time I asked the attendant (who fills water from the taps into a huge water receptacle and then buckets the water) and it has been going on since the beginning of the year – maybe even last year! I come to Manila almost every month and I am surprised to see no improvement – it is (1) unhygenic and therefore unacceptable and (2) the last impression that many travelers have of the RP!! It is pretty disgraceful. I don't know what the state us of the men's room or other toilets in the departure area...I do hope that you can get to rectify the situation. All the best."
During the Estrada administration, the Department of Tourism (DoT) embarked on a "clean restrooms" campaign because all the surveys showed that one of the major turn offs, aside from traffic congestion,was the state of our toilet facilities in frontline areas like airports, bus terminals and restaurants.
I was then Secretary of Tourism and my call did not fall on deaf ears. Mr. Oscar Reyes of Shell (Phils.) Was the first to respond with an efficient plan of upgrading the restrooms of all Shell stations along the tourism highway; Petron quickly followed suit. Mr. P. Alvarez of Pantranco bus line also upgraded restrooms in pit stops and provided both Asian and Western type toilets.
We at the DoT were relentless in our campaign, bringing to the attention of local government officials toilets that were "pretty disgraceful," to use Nelly's words.
Happily, to this date, Shell, Petron and other gas stations, the majority of restaurants and commercial centers in our tourist destinations have acceptably clean restrooms which can only mean that people are beginning to appreciate hygenic toilets which are essential to tourism. But shame on the NAIA airport authorities for their dirty restrooms!
August 31, 2009
Last Sunday evening, I received this email from a school friend I have not seen for more than a decade now, Nelly Lichauco Fung, born in Santa Ana, Manila, and resident of Hong Kong since her marriage to Kenneth Fung in the 1960's. Nelly's father, the late Ambassador Marcial Lichauco, was one of the most illustrious Filipino diplomats.
Nelly's message: " I am sorry to trouble you with this but I don't know who else to write to! For many many months now, the ladies toilet in the departure area near Gate 7 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has not had proper running water. For some time I ignored it, but last time I asked the attendant (who fills water from the taps into a huge water receptacle and then buckets the water) and it has been going on since the beginning of the year – maybe even last year! I come to Manila almost every month and I am surprised to see no improvement – it is (1) unhygenic and therefore unacceptable and (2) the last impression that many travelers have of the RP!! It is pretty disgraceful. I don't know what the state us of the men's room or other toilets in the departure area...I do hope that you can get to rectify the situation. All the best."
During the Estrada administration, the Department of Tourism (DoT) embarked on a "clean restrooms" campaign because all the surveys showed that one of the major turn offs, aside from traffic congestion,was the state of our toilet facilities in frontline areas like airports, bus terminals and restaurants.
I was then Secretary of Tourism and my call did not fall on deaf ears. Mr. Oscar Reyes of Shell (Phils.) Was the first to respond with an efficient plan of upgrading the restrooms of all Shell stations along the tourism highway; Petron quickly followed suit. Mr. P. Alvarez of Pantranco bus line also upgraded restrooms in pit stops and provided both Asian and Western type toilets.
We at the DoT were relentless in our campaign, bringing to the attention of local government officials toilets that were "pretty disgraceful," to use Nelly's words.
Happily, to this date, Shell, Petron and other gas stations, the majority of restaurants and commercial centers in our tourist destinations have acceptably clean restrooms which can only mean that people are beginning to appreciate hygenic toilets which are essential to tourism. But shame on the NAIA airport authorities for their dirty restrooms!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
‘DOUBLE-CROSS’ ANGLE HINTED IN SLAY TRY VS. LIM AIDE
By Marlon Ramos, Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Filed Under: Crime, Law & Justice,Local authorities
MANILA, Philippines – The attempt last week on the life of Rafaelito Garayblas, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim’s executive secretary, could be the handiwork of people whom the former allegedly “double-crossed.”
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Chinatown Development Authority of Manila (MCDA) secretary general, said in an interview earlier this week that the slay try could be an offshoot of “under the table deals” at the Manila City Hall between Garayblas and some businessmen.
MCDA, an agency created by Lim, is made up of some of the most influential Chinese-Filipino businessmen in the city, with Dante Ang, head of Commission on Overseas Filipinos, as chair.
Topacio, who said he was appointed to his post by Lim, said he learned about the supposed irregularities at City Hall when some Chinese-Filipino traders came to his office to air their concerns.
These included Garayblas’ alleged involvement in the city government’s controversial P400 million-garbage collection project.
The businessmen also claimed that Garayblas influenced the conduct of the bidding for metal plates used in making business permits, Topacio added.
“As executive secretary of the mayor, the documents about these projects go directly to Garayblas. Projects will not start unless he gives his blessing,” he told the Inquirer.
Asked if Lim knew about the supposed corruption in his administration, Topacio replied, “Maybe he doesn’t. But now he should.”
Topacio, who said he was appointed as assistant secretary when Lim took over as interior secretary, said he had even written the mayor about the purported irregularities at City Hall although he did not receive any reply.
“I respect Mayor Lim. He is a good and incorruptible public servant. But I suggest that he use his skills as a former police general to investigate the dealings of some of his trusted men,” he said.
Lim, however, stood by Garayblas in the face of Topacio’s allegations.
Sought for comment, he dismissed the reports as “conjectures” and said the city government would let the police do its job of probing the attempt on Garayblas’ life.
“We cannot indulge in these speculations. We will let the Quezon City police do their work because they are the principal investigators of this ambush. We will just play a supporting role because we are also interested in finding out who are the masterminds who commissioned these people to kill Secretary Garayblas,” he told the Inquirer Wednesday.
On June 12, motorcycle-riding men opened fire on Garayblas’ car as it was traveling on Quezon Avenue at around 7:30 p.m.
His companions, among them his 27-year-old son Paulo, managed to return fire and kill one of the gunmen.
Five other people were wounded in the attack while one of the gunmen, later identified as Christopher Abasula, was killed by the official’s bodyguards.
Lim defended his longtime lawyer-friend for his “integrity and character” and said Garayblas could not be involved in irregularities.
“He is a stickler for what the law is and for complying with existing regulations. You cannot make him change his mind once he has decided, because he will stand by what is the rule of law,” he added.
Lim, however, stressed that anyone who has knowledge about questionable transactions should come out in the open and back it up with evidence.
“My policy there is I will not make any comment unless it is supported by facts. If someone knows something, we will pursue it,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an open letter posted at the City Hall website, Garayblas’ son and assistant secretary to the mayor, Pio, said the rumors about his father were “not true.”
“Instead of emulating and honoring the dedication, integrity and sacrifices of people like my father, these people are trying to destroy him. My father will not back down and I hope the people who believe in him will not lose faith in him,” Pio said.
He thanked those who have expressed support for his father, even the people behind the slay attempt, saying the incident has given them a “stronger resolve.”
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Filed Under: Crime, Law & Justice,Local authorities
MANILA, Philippines – The attempt last week on the life of Rafaelito Garayblas, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim’s executive secretary, could be the handiwork of people whom the former allegedly “double-crossed.”
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, Chinatown Development Authority of Manila (MCDA) secretary general, said in an interview earlier this week that the slay try could be an offshoot of “under the table deals” at the Manila City Hall between Garayblas and some businessmen.
MCDA, an agency created by Lim, is made up of some of the most influential Chinese-Filipino businessmen in the city, with Dante Ang, head of Commission on Overseas Filipinos, as chair.
Topacio, who said he was appointed to his post by Lim, said he learned about the supposed irregularities at City Hall when some Chinese-Filipino traders came to his office to air their concerns.
These included Garayblas’ alleged involvement in the city government’s controversial P400 million-garbage collection project.
The businessmen also claimed that Garayblas influenced the conduct of the bidding for metal plates used in making business permits, Topacio added.
“As executive secretary of the mayor, the documents about these projects go directly to Garayblas. Projects will not start unless he gives his blessing,” he told the Inquirer.
Asked if Lim knew about the supposed corruption in his administration, Topacio replied, “Maybe he doesn’t. But now he should.”
Topacio, who said he was appointed as assistant secretary when Lim took over as interior secretary, said he had even written the mayor about the purported irregularities at City Hall although he did not receive any reply.
“I respect Mayor Lim. He is a good and incorruptible public servant. But I suggest that he use his skills as a former police general to investigate the dealings of some of his trusted men,” he said.
Lim, however, stood by Garayblas in the face of Topacio’s allegations.
Sought for comment, he dismissed the reports as “conjectures” and said the city government would let the police do its job of probing the attempt on Garayblas’ life.
“We cannot indulge in these speculations. We will let the Quezon City police do their work because they are the principal investigators of this ambush. We will just play a supporting role because we are also interested in finding out who are the masterminds who commissioned these people to kill Secretary Garayblas,” he told the Inquirer Wednesday.
On June 12, motorcycle-riding men opened fire on Garayblas’ car as it was traveling on Quezon Avenue at around 7:30 p.m.
His companions, among them his 27-year-old son Paulo, managed to return fire and kill one of the gunmen.
Five other people were wounded in the attack while one of the gunmen, later identified as Christopher Abasula, was killed by the official’s bodyguards.
Lim defended his longtime lawyer-friend for his “integrity and character” and said Garayblas could not be involved in irregularities.
“He is a stickler for what the law is and for complying with existing regulations. You cannot make him change his mind once he has decided, because he will stand by what is the rule of law,” he added.
Lim, however, stressed that anyone who has knowledge about questionable transactions should come out in the open and back it up with evidence.
“My policy there is I will not make any comment unless it is supported by facts. If someone knows something, we will pursue it,” he said.
Meanwhile, in an open letter posted at the City Hall website, Garayblas’ son and assistant secretary to the mayor, Pio, said the rumors about his father were “not true.”
“Instead of emulating and honoring the dedication, integrity and sacrifices of people like my father, these people are trying to destroy him. My father will not back down and I hope the people who believe in him will not lose faith in him,” Pio said.
He thanked those who have expressed support for his father, even the people behind the slay attempt, saying the incident has given them a “stronger resolve.”
MANILA MAYOR ALFREDO LIM AND JUETENG
Jueteng makes comeback in Manila?
MANILA, Philippines – Intelligence officers of the Manila Police District (MPD) are verifying reports that operators of jueteng, an illegal numbers game, are slowly resuming their activities in the city.
Anti-crime operatives of Meisic police station, led by Senior Police Officer 4 Ver Navarro, nabbed last Tuesday Angelina Nepomuceno, alias “Angge,” 52, while allegedly collecting jueteng bets in Binondo. Recovered from Nepomuceno were more than P200, a ballpen and a list of number bets.
During interrogation, Nepomuceno named the jueteng “cabo” or maintainer as a certain “Gorie,” while the financier is one “Edmund.” She said they have been in operation since May and the drawing of the winning bets is mostly done in the Sta. Cruz area, with operators hopping from one place to another to escape arrest.
Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut directed his men to intensify the city’s crackdown on jueteng following reports that the illegal numbers game has resurfaced in the city with the blessing of unscrupulous police and city hall officials.
“Our investigation showed jueteng lords in the city operate ‘kangaroo’ style or transfer from one place to another to escape detection. Jueteng bet collectors hide their operation through EZ-2 lotto of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,” Yabut told The STAR.
Jueteng collectors pretend they are soliciting bets for the government-sponsored EZ-2 lotto to escape arrest. EZ-2 and jueteng both involve placing bets on a winning two-number combination. While the former is legal and drawn live on television, the winning jueteng combination is reportedly picked by operators, who choose combinations with fewer bets.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and MPD director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay have repeatedly announced that they will not allow jueteng in the city.
MANILA, Philippines – Intelligence officers of the Manila Police District (MPD) are verifying reports that operators of jueteng, an illegal numbers game, are slowly resuming their activities in the city.
Anti-crime operatives of Meisic police station, led by Senior Police Officer 4 Ver Navarro, nabbed last Tuesday Angelina Nepomuceno, alias “Angge,” 52, while allegedly collecting jueteng bets in Binondo. Recovered from Nepomuceno were more than P200, a ballpen and a list of number bets.
During interrogation, Nepomuceno named the jueteng “cabo” or maintainer as a certain “Gorie,” while the financier is one “Edmund.” She said they have been in operation since May and the drawing of the winning bets is mostly done in the Sta. Cruz area, with operators hopping from one place to another to escape arrest.
Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut directed his men to intensify the city’s crackdown on jueteng following reports that the illegal numbers game has resurfaced in the city with the blessing of unscrupulous police and city hall officials.
“Our investigation showed jueteng lords in the city operate ‘kangaroo’ style or transfer from one place to another to escape detection. Jueteng bet collectors hide their operation through EZ-2 lotto of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,” Yabut told The STAR.
Jueteng collectors pretend they are soliciting bets for the government-sponsored EZ-2 lotto to escape arrest. EZ-2 and jueteng both involve placing bets on a winning two-number combination. While the former is legal and drawn live on television, the winning jueteng combination is reportedly picked by operators, who choose combinations with fewer bets.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and MPD director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay have repeatedly announced that they will not allow jueteng in the city.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MANILA MAYOR ALFREDO LIM COMMITS POLITICAL SUICIDE
Suicidal
Manila mayor Alfredo Lim and his sidekick Isko Moreno are dragging their city to the pits.
In a cheap stunt, Lim played Pontius Pilate and bowed to the will of his own mob. He asked the crowd if he should sign a new ordinance that invites hazardous and highly polluting industries into the city, his own mob approved. At their well-rehearsed command, Lim signed an absurd ordinance that reverses all the previous efforts to regenerate the City of Manila and condemn the capital to becoming one large Smokey Mountain.
He might as well have declared his city to be the toilet bowl of the metropolis and fully opened its doors to the suicidal but profitable business of importing toxic wastes.
Everywhere else, old and gracious cities are cleaning up their urban cores, making them more habitable and raising property values in the process. They are exporting industries farther away from population centers — for health as well as for economic reasons.
When cities improve on the quality of life of their urban cores, they attract more productive citizens, sunrise industries, better commerce and exponentially higher property values. The cities earn more when they become more habitable. When they earn more, they make their cities even more habitable. It is a virtuous cycle.
Lim and his cabal, on the other hand, by sheer shortsightedness, are dragging their city into the quagmire. By making Manila a more hazardous place to live in, they will attract only scum, depress economic activity and property prices, force the city government to spend more on health care for the miserable.
If they were only a bit more sophisticated, Lim and his cabal might have learned from the experience of Rockwell or Eastwood City. Had both remained sites for dirty industries, these places would have economically stagnated.
Right smack in the City of Manila, they might have learned something from the decision to convert the San Lazaro racetrack into a major property development. That brought commerce and higher-niche taxpayers into an area that would have otherwise simply degenerated.
But Lim and his cabal do not seem to have a clear strategy for managing the city’s future.
When he took over City Hall in June 2007, Manila had a positive cash position of P2.6 billion. By December that same year, the city government had a deficit of P1.4 billion. Lim and his cabal do not seem to have the forward-looking financial skills to manage a modern city. Because of that, they are now dragging the city to a more primitive state, something akin to the city that outraged Charles Dickens two centuries ago: a city of filth and crime and despair.
In order to save whatever income the city gets from perilously hosting the fuel dumps, Lim’s cabal passed a resolution allowing heavily polluting and hazardous industries into the city. They seem to think that by making the city even less habitable, they will be saving jobs and preserving revenues.
No proposition in urban planning supports this strange thought. Property prices will be depressed. Commerce will be shooed away. Taxpayers will relocate. In the long run, a dying city will not possibly earn more.
In a word, there is no surer way of killing the City of Manila than to enforce this new ordinance. It is an ordinance that will favor three oil companies and doom the city’s future.
The other reasons advanced to sustain this ordinance are just as flawed.
The relocation of the Pandacan refineries will not cause unemployment. The highly skilled workers of oil depot would likely follow the relocation of the facility to Harbor City, which is just a short but safer distance away from the existing site.
At Harbor City, the proposed relocation site, the depot will be close to the sea. The tanks could be submerged to lessen the damage caused by any mishap. More modern handling equipment could be acquired to lessen environmental damage. The former mayor of Manila promised the oil companies that they could reclaim as much land as they want from the bay, the farther out the better.
International agencies estimate that a conflagration at the oil depot could cause a Tier 3 calamity. The stockpile could burn for weeks and even months, enveloping the whole metropolis in a toxic cloud.
Mayor Lim says that the depot is safe because it is part of a no-fly zone. That is not very reassuring. Manhattan Island was a no-fly zone. The Pentagon is in a no-fly zone. Both were attacked by terrorists in 2001.
Mayor Lim says that in its century of existence, no disaster has happened at the depot. That is faulty argument. In basic logic, we are taught that the fact that the sun has risen the past million mornings is not acceptable proof that the sun will rise tomorrow. The Pentagon, we will remember, was never attacked before September 11, 2001.
The encompassing ordinance allowing every variety of hazardous industry into the city to conceal the fact that the city government is acting to favor the three oil giants imposes great opportunity costs for Manila. It denies the city the opportunity to regenerate.
This ordinance harms not only Manilans. By condemning the inner city into a cesspool, this ordinance harms the entire metropolis. It will dirty the Pasig River beyond relief. It will thicken the toxic haze that already envelopes the capital region.
There are other legal and constitutional issues here. But we leave those for the courts to consider.
Manila mayor Alfredo Lim and his sidekick Isko Moreno are dragging their city to the pits.
In a cheap stunt, Lim played Pontius Pilate and bowed to the will of his own mob. He asked the crowd if he should sign a new ordinance that invites hazardous and highly polluting industries into the city, his own mob approved. At their well-rehearsed command, Lim signed an absurd ordinance that reverses all the previous efforts to regenerate the City of Manila and condemn the capital to becoming one large Smokey Mountain.
He might as well have declared his city to be the toilet bowl of the metropolis and fully opened its doors to the suicidal but profitable business of importing toxic wastes.
Everywhere else, old and gracious cities are cleaning up their urban cores, making them more habitable and raising property values in the process. They are exporting industries farther away from population centers — for health as well as for economic reasons.
When cities improve on the quality of life of their urban cores, they attract more productive citizens, sunrise industries, better commerce and exponentially higher property values. The cities earn more when they become more habitable. When they earn more, they make their cities even more habitable. It is a virtuous cycle.
Lim and his cabal, on the other hand, by sheer shortsightedness, are dragging their city into the quagmire. By making Manila a more hazardous place to live in, they will attract only scum, depress economic activity and property prices, force the city government to spend more on health care for the miserable.
If they were only a bit more sophisticated, Lim and his cabal might have learned from the experience of Rockwell or Eastwood City. Had both remained sites for dirty industries, these places would have economically stagnated.
Right smack in the City of Manila, they might have learned something from the decision to convert the San Lazaro racetrack into a major property development. That brought commerce and higher-niche taxpayers into an area that would have otherwise simply degenerated.
But Lim and his cabal do not seem to have a clear strategy for managing the city’s future.
When he took over City Hall in June 2007, Manila had a positive cash position of P2.6 billion. By December that same year, the city government had a deficit of P1.4 billion. Lim and his cabal do not seem to have the forward-looking financial skills to manage a modern city. Because of that, they are now dragging the city to a more primitive state, something akin to the city that outraged Charles Dickens two centuries ago: a city of filth and crime and despair.
In order to save whatever income the city gets from perilously hosting the fuel dumps, Lim’s cabal passed a resolution allowing heavily polluting and hazardous industries into the city. They seem to think that by making the city even less habitable, they will be saving jobs and preserving revenues.
No proposition in urban planning supports this strange thought. Property prices will be depressed. Commerce will be shooed away. Taxpayers will relocate. In the long run, a dying city will not possibly earn more.
In a word, there is no surer way of killing the City of Manila than to enforce this new ordinance. It is an ordinance that will favor three oil companies and doom the city’s future.
The other reasons advanced to sustain this ordinance are just as flawed.
The relocation of the Pandacan refineries will not cause unemployment. The highly skilled workers of oil depot would likely follow the relocation of the facility to Harbor City, which is just a short but safer distance away from the existing site.
At Harbor City, the proposed relocation site, the depot will be close to the sea. The tanks could be submerged to lessen the damage caused by any mishap. More modern handling equipment could be acquired to lessen environmental damage. The former mayor of Manila promised the oil companies that they could reclaim as much land as they want from the bay, the farther out the better.
International agencies estimate that a conflagration at the oil depot could cause a Tier 3 calamity. The stockpile could burn for weeks and even months, enveloping the whole metropolis in a toxic cloud.
Mayor Lim says that the depot is safe because it is part of a no-fly zone. That is not very reassuring. Manhattan Island was a no-fly zone. The Pentagon is in a no-fly zone. Both were attacked by terrorists in 2001.
Mayor Lim says that in its century of existence, no disaster has happened at the depot. That is faulty argument. In basic logic, we are taught that the fact that the sun has risen the past million mornings is not acceptable proof that the sun will rise tomorrow. The Pentagon, we will remember, was never attacked before September 11, 2001.
The encompassing ordinance allowing every variety of hazardous industry into the city to conceal the fact that the city government is acting to favor the three oil giants imposes great opportunity costs for Manila. It denies the city the opportunity to regenerate.
This ordinance harms not only Manilans. By condemning the inner city into a cesspool, this ordinance harms the entire metropolis. It will dirty the Pasig River beyond relief. It will thicken the toxic haze that already envelopes the capital region.
There are other legal and constitutional issues here. But we leave those for the courts to consider.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Is like father, like son?
Paano natin malalaman kung ang ating pinuno ay isang huwaran???
Dahil lamang ba sa "popularity" o pagiging kilala? o dahil sa pagiging ulirang magulang sa kanyang mga anak?
Paano ka paniniwalaan ng tao na ikaw ay sinsero sa pagpigil at pagpuksa sa ipinagbabawal na gamot kung ang sarili mong anak ay hindi mo kayang suwayin??? Paano ka susundin ng iyong nasasakupan kung mismong sa loob ng iyong pamilya ay may sumusuway sa batas na iyong ipinapatupad?
Basahin natin ang sumusunod na balita sa ibaba patungkol sa anak ng Mayor ng Maynila na si Fred Lim:
"Anak ni Mayor Lim kinasuhan ng pagbebenta ng shabu"
MANILA – Sinampahan nitong Martes ng kasong pagbebenta ng methamphetamine hydrochloride o shabu si Manny Santos Lim, anak ni Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim na mahigpit na lumalaban sa ipinagbabawal na gamot.
Ayon kay Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno, malakas ang katibayan laban kay Lim, 44-anyos, at mga kapwa akusado na sina Joel Sabado at Ronald Pascual, dahil sa paglabag sa Section 5 at 15 ng Article 2 ng RA 9165 o Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, dahil sa pagbebenta ng ilegal na droga.
"It's up to the court if it will approve a plea-bargain, but as far as the DOJ is concerned, there is enough evidence to prove that they weren't in the act of buying. The quantity of shabu found in their possession and the marked money used during the entrapment operation is enough evidence," pahayag ni Zuno.
Walang piyansang inirekomenda ang Manila Regional Trial court sa mga akusado na nahaharap sa habambuhay na pagkakakulong kapag napatunayang nagkasala sa kaso.
Ang grupo ni Lim ay nadakip sa buy-bust operation ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA noong Marso 14 sa Espeleta Street sa Sta. Cruz, Manila. Nakuha umano sa mga akusado ang 98.7821 gramo ng shabu na tinatayang nagkakahalaga ng P340,000.
Ibinasura ng DOJ ang depensa ng kampo ni Lim na biktima ito ng frame up at bumili lang siya ng shabu sa isang pulis.
"The familiar rule on evidence is that an affirmative testimony is far weightier than a negative one, especially when the former comes from a credible witness. Categorical and positive identification of an accused, without any showing of ill-motive on the part of the eyewitness testifying on the matter, prevails over alibi and denial, which are negative, self-serving and undeserving of real weight in law unless substantiated by clear and convincing evidence," paliwanag ng DOJ. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
Ayan ba ang karapat-dapat na igalang??? ayan ba ang sinasabi ng iba na dapat pamarisan? NO COMMENT!
'un lng!!!
Dahil lamang ba sa "popularity" o pagiging kilala? o dahil sa pagiging ulirang magulang sa kanyang mga anak?
Paano ka paniniwalaan ng tao na ikaw ay sinsero sa pagpigil at pagpuksa sa ipinagbabawal na gamot kung ang sarili mong anak ay hindi mo kayang suwayin??? Paano ka susundin ng iyong nasasakupan kung mismong sa loob ng iyong pamilya ay may sumusuway sa batas na iyong ipinapatupad?
Basahin natin ang sumusunod na balita sa ibaba patungkol sa anak ng Mayor ng Maynila na si Fred Lim:
"Anak ni Mayor Lim kinasuhan ng pagbebenta ng shabu"
MANILA – Sinampahan nitong Martes ng kasong pagbebenta ng methamphetamine hydrochloride o shabu si Manny Santos Lim, anak ni Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim na mahigpit na lumalaban sa ipinagbabawal na gamot.
Ayon kay Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno, malakas ang katibayan laban kay Lim, 44-anyos, at mga kapwa akusado na sina Joel Sabado at Ronald Pascual, dahil sa paglabag sa Section 5 at 15 ng Article 2 ng RA 9165 o Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, dahil sa pagbebenta ng ilegal na droga.
"It's up to the court if it will approve a plea-bargain, but as far as the DOJ is concerned, there is enough evidence to prove that they weren't in the act of buying. The quantity of shabu found in their possession and the marked money used during the entrapment operation is enough evidence," pahayag ni Zuno.
Walang piyansang inirekomenda ang Manila Regional Trial court sa mga akusado na nahaharap sa habambuhay na pagkakakulong kapag napatunayang nagkasala sa kaso.
Ang grupo ni Lim ay nadakip sa buy-bust operation ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA noong Marso 14 sa Espeleta Street sa Sta. Cruz, Manila. Nakuha umano sa mga akusado ang 98.7821 gramo ng shabu na tinatayang nagkakahalaga ng P340,000.
Ibinasura ng DOJ ang depensa ng kampo ni Lim na biktima ito ng frame up at bumili lang siya ng shabu sa isang pulis.
"The familiar rule on evidence is that an affirmative testimony is far weightier than a negative one, especially when the former comes from a credible witness. Categorical and positive identification of an accused, without any showing of ill-motive on the part of the eyewitness testifying on the matter, prevails over alibi and denial, which are negative, self-serving and undeserving of real weight in law unless substantiated by clear and convincing evidence," paliwanag ng DOJ. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV
Ayan ba ang karapat-dapat na igalang??? ayan ba ang sinasabi ng iba na dapat pamarisan? NO COMMENT!
'un lng!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
