Punchline
They know about their hoodlum judge
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
LAST week, I reported the latest shenanigan of a notorious hoodlum judge in Pangasinan.
It was about the TRO that the corrupt judge issued in response to the prayer of a plaintiff five years ago in a bid to seek the court’s protection for her property from illegal occupation by a squatter. The not so young judge finally issued the TRO after five years, and with a twist: the judge did not stop the defendant, who is not a legitimate tenant, as prayed for from illegally taking over any part of the plaintiff’s farm and instead handed to the defendant three hectares of the farm for his exclusive use without need to compensate the plaintiff, the landowner.
An employee at the Justice Hall overheard the copy-paste decision-making judge feign a puzzling reaction in front of the court personnel after reading our issue last week. But, of course, the judge’s staff knew better. They knew that it was their judge that I had written about since it was no secret that their judge merely copied and signed the draft presented by the defendant’s unethical lawyer. What the personnel were not privy to, of course, was the hefty consideration for the copy-paste decision.
The staff are wondering how their arrogant and ignorant judge can actually get away with it once the Court Administrator demands an explanation for the odious TRO that only a peabrain can concoct. Tsk-tsk. The defendant’s scheming lawyer must have known that the hoodlum judge would sign anything that’s accompanied by an envelope, and the enterprising practitioner obliged, and did the hassling judge a favor!
I’m sure there will be a shameful jurisprudence soon that will result from this recent criminal antic of the hoodlum judge. Abangan!
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THE FAVORED FAVORITE. Here’s a worrisome item at the Dagupan City Hall.
A contractor who has since stopped submitting bids for projects in the city recently intimated to me what could likely pull the rug from under Mayor Belen’s feet in the latter’s unrelenting campaign for reforms.
Briefly, he said, only a handful win a bidding for most of the infra projects in the city because there is one “favorite” contractor that has since lorded it over since Mayor Belen took over the city government’s reins. I’m told without any hesitation that the “favored” contractor is the “favorite” of a senior official in the city hall, and some personnel in the Bid and Awards Committee (BAC) have been coopted to conspire to ensure that the “favorite” corners the major contracts.
This is one corruption issue that Mayor Belen certainly does not deserve. If only she starts asking questions about regular bidding winners, she will know and understand how the conspiracy inside her circle can lead to a legal problem that she needs like a hole in the head.
The senior official and her friends should already step back to prevent a looming embarrassment for Mayor Belen because the contractor-supplier sector is beginning to talk about the unspeakable deals inside BAC. Careful now!
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THE BANK SECRECY LAW. The twin moves of Mayor Rody Duterte and Sen. Alan Cayetano challenging their counterparts in the presidential race to also sign personal waivers from the coverage of the Bank Secrecy Law is winning support from across the land.
The anti-corruption advocates in Pangasinan tell me they believe they have finally found their champions in Duterte-Cayetano. Indeed, the signing of the waivers will allow the Commission on Audit and the Ombudsman to open the bank accounts of a government official if a corruption case is filed against him or her. The waiver certainly short circuits the process for establishing accountability.
By signing their waivers ahead of everyone, the Duterte-Cayetano tandem is showing that the ugly head of corruption can be cut through sheer political will. For years, the anti-corruption advocates here and elsewhere tried to pursue the campaign through a Freedom of Information Act, but even that was denied by the Aquino administration. (Ironically, the passage or adoption of the FOI was the banner platform of then presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino).
I recall when then Sen. Ping Lacson (making a comeback in May 9) filed a bill making all elected officials, department and bureau heads exempted from the coverage of the Bank Secrecy Law. It was a futile fight. The bill never got past first reading!
So, let’s get down to business: Who will likely sign waivers too? According to an earlier PR from the LP camp, the Roxas-Robredo tandem will also sign their waivers. Great! The Poe-Escudero tandem has not hinted at anything. Why? I heard from the grapevine along the political corridors in Metro-Manila that Santiago-Marcos tandem is split on the issue. Sen. Miriam is gung-ho to sign but not Sen. Bongbong. Why? Is BBM still holding some of the ill-gotten wealth of his parents?
But as one might expect, the Binay-Honasan tandem has refused to even respond to media’s question if they are so inclined to sign waivers too. I guess the answer to that is already much too obvious.
So, how can you believe that either a Poe or Binay presidency will wage a no-nonsense campaign contra corruption in all levels and go at it hammer and tongs?
I suggest you read everyone’s body language today before it’s too late for you, for us and our next generation.
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THE DERANGED CRIMINALS. If the series of successful buy-bust operations of the Dagupan City Police is an indicator, it can be said that the campaign against the illegal drugs in the province is continuously gaining momentum.
But to those who have very little appreciation for the efforts of our police in the war vs. drugs, the number of arrests are not as significant as the prospective impact of the drugs on criminals lurking in our neighborhoods.
Consider the following.
A thief and a robber not high on drugs would be content in running away with our valuables, but not the same for the criminal who’s high on drugs. You’ve read the news about mother and child who were recently hammered to death, a young girl raped and tortured to death, a little boy shot to death over crying bouts, all these could only be done by persons deranged by prohibited drugs.
Thousands of parents already complain of regular thefts in their homes with one difference – it is their drug-dependent children that steal whatever can be converted to cash to enable them to support their habit. In such cases, the parents are in a dilemma – turning in their kids to the police for domestic thievery is not option yet if they don’t consider it, their kids eventually turn into hardcore drug addicts. What should the parents do?
Drug syndicates are using children below 15- years old as couriers or drug mules in the communities. Among their assigned targets today are children in primary schools who can afford to give up their P2 ‘baon’ in return for bragging rights to experiment on shabu. The syndicates are already creating new markets under the very noses of parents and teachers. (Note: Police recently busted a school principal and a teacher caught peddling shabu to their students).
So, consider how many lives are freed from the clutches of drug syndicates with each drug peddler arrested.
(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)
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