VOL. 1 NO. 7 • 20 PAGES • CIRCULATED IN LOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTIES FOLLOW US @PinoyWatchDog • LIKE US PinoyWatchDog • SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2012

ypical of devotees transplanted to a for-eign land, the perez family brought with them their fervor for

the Santo Nino when they resettled in the southwestern region of los

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T

MIBy Joel BanderSenior Columnist

IMPEACHMENT FEVERGRIPS ENTIRE NATION

EXPOSE

EXCLUSIVE!

Sen. ‘Koko’ Pimentel Discloses Personal Standard of Review of Impeachment Evidence

Sto. Nino finds home among Fil-AmsWords and pictures By Dionesio C. Grava

By Rene Villaroman with PWD Investigative Team

angeles county. Torrance is next door to the city of carson, home of a large concentration of Filipinos overseas. With a commonality in faith, culture, food and cherished memories of the homeland, the

The Inland Empire Sinulog Dance Troupe is in much demand to perform at this time of year when many organizations are celebrating their Santo Nino fiestas. In white attire is the group’s leader, Lorena Zabrensky.

From Our Pen

COMMUNITY Noypitz Bar-

Restaurant has Launched itself in the Orbit of The Fil-Am Community in LA

| Page 9

OFF HOURSTales from Puerto Princesa, Palawan

|Page 11

EDITORIALThe stakes are high: get rid of feudalism and save democracy

|Page 4

aNila --On Thurs-day, January 19, Sen. aquilino ‘Koko’ pi-mentel iii told pinoy-WatchDog.com the

standard of proof he would require w h e n evaluating w h e t h e r to convict Supreme court chief Justice Re-nato corona in the ongoing Senate impeachment proceedings. The

standard of proof required is not stated in the philippine constitu-tion or the Senate Rules on im-peachment Trials.

in an interview in Sen. pimen-tel’s private office I asked how he was evaluating the evidence in the face of a lack of prior guidance or directive. He stated that he had

developed a ‘Sufficient c r e d i b l e E v i d e n c e

Test’ for this “constitutional ad-ministrative case” to be applied

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aNila -The Sen-ate sitting as an im-peachment court be-gan the historic trial of Renato c. corona,

the first Chief Justice ever to be im-peached. Ending a nine-day prayer vigil at the Supreme court, corona told supporters he would confront his accusers at the trial and defend the judiciary, the constitution and “our democracy.”

With a symbolic bang of the gavel, Senate president Juan ponce

Chief Justice on the dock for constitutional crimesBy Winston A. Marbella Correspondent

Enrile, who will preside at the trial with 23 senators sitting as judges, started the first impeachment trial of a sitting chief Justice. in a pow-erful opening statement, Enrile as-serted the primacy of the Senate as the sole constitutional body given the power to conduct an impeach-ment trial.

“as jurors, it is our obligation and responsibility to closely and diligently examine the evidence and the facts to be presented be-

M

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N the allegory about the battle of the ants in “Brute Neighbors,” Henry David Thoreau, american author, poet,

philosopher and historian drew on the unequal combat between the red ant against its twice big-ger black counterpart, egging them on because, he said, “i have no doubt that it was a principle they fought for...”

Hardly is there any doubt, too, that Danny Pacaňa, a David of a whistleblower, has risked his

Danilo Pacaña on a mission to slay Lucio Tan, a taipan dragon

By Dionesio C. GravaPhoto courtesy of Danilo Pacaňa

By Winston A, MarbellaCorrespondent

life and spent much resources go-ing after a very influential busi-ness titan for the sake of a prin-ciple. The possibility of reward money for his whistle blowing, if successful, would be a welcome bonus.

He reportedly filed tax eva-sion charges against Fortune Tobacco corp.-philip Morris Fortune Tobacco corp. ((FTc-pMFTc) and asia Brewery inc. (Bi) at the Bureau of internal Revenue (BiR) on December

aNila -- On the dock for what could be a career-ending impeachment

trial in the Senate, chief Justice Renato corona gave the public an inside peek into the roots of his conflict with President aquino a unanimous Supreme court decision (14-0) that gave the sprawling crown jewel of the cojuangco-aquino feudal wealth, Hacienda luisita back to the tenant-farmers.

Speaking candidly before supporters, corona said the

The roots of Hacienda Luisita conflict

landmark luisita decision which implemented a constitutional mandate for land reform was what triggered the president to have him impeached by allies in the House of Representatives to remove him from office.

lost in the furor over the Su-preme court decision upholding the right of farmers to own the land they till is the reason why we have agrarian reform at all.

in the turbulent Fifties, the communists were literally knock-ing at the gates of Manila, threat-ening to take it over.

N January 10, 2012 l.a. Superior court Judge Soussan Bru-guera h a s

scheduled a hear-ing for February 27, 2012, regarding Glendale based attorney James Beirne’s repeated contempt of a stipu-

Ray Pilaro Testimonial in Beirne’s Ads Violates Court Order

lated court order that he not have any false, misleading, deceptive advertising or communications,

or such adver-tising that tends to confuse, de-ceive or mislead

the public, and to not guarantee or warranty any out on a legal mat-

NBI chief Gatdula ordered axed |Page 7

PACANA

CORONA

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, January 21, 20122

to the eight articles of impeach-ment.

pimentel was an active litigator with a varied legal practice for many years. i asked pimentel if he had shared his ‘test’ with anyone else, and he said this was the first time he had revealed it, as he had been working on a formulation for some time, and we were the first to ask since he had devised the test.

pimentel described the ‘Suf-ficient Credible Evidence’ test as falling somewhere higher than substantive evidence need-ed in administrative cases to below proof beyond reasonable doubt needed in criminal cases. He alternatively described this test as enough to convince a reasonable man to take a high public official out of office.

He described his search for the amount of proof he would require more as “my own test to guide me” than as a truly rigid legal standard.

“i take cognizance of what the presiding officer, Senate president Juan ponce Enrile, said that, in his personal opin-ion, the quantum of evidence required is ‘akin’ to a criminal case because the crimes cited by the constitution as bases for impeachment are criminal of-fenses: culpable violation of the constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust,” pimentel said.

“let me emphasize that these are my personal guide-lines and i will issue a more detailed explanation as soon as I finalize my thoughts on the matter.” He also stated that in the absence of written rules that senators could use whatever standard they wished.

in the philippines a ‘sub-stantial evidence’ test is used in

Sen. ‘Koko’ Pimentel Discloses Personal Standard of Review of Impeachment Evidence

administrative and quasi-judi-cial proceedings. The Tagalog term is ‘puwede na’ meaning ‘just enough.’ in civil cases a ‘standard of preponderance of evidence is used, meaning that the evidence weighs in favor of the side advocating that evidence. admittedly, i do not fully understand these distinc-tions, as in america an admin-istrative matter would still have a preponderance of evidence standard but with looser rules of admissibility, such as being able to just place down medical reports or business documents without lengthy testimony as to its foundation.

in a criminal matter, the philippine standard is beyond a reasonable doubt, which has some variation from the U.S. model. However, most com-mentators do not contend that the impeachment proceed-ing should rise to this highest standard.

With all these issues, and uncertainty floating about, it was refreshing to see a politician and lawyer willing to publicly think ‘out loud’ about his developing position. Senator pimentel certainly demonstrated the basis for his reputation of independent thinking.

He also emphasized that the senators are sitting as judges, not as jurors. in america, jurors only make findings of fact, applying the law based on instructions provided by the judge. However, senators in an impeachment court also deter-mine the law, not only the facts, pimentel said. This point was on display the same day when the senator rose in the impeach-ment proceeding regarding inquiries on points of law.

a small sign is on the wall behind the senator’s desk ad-monishes visitors not to lobby him on the corona impeach-ment case. When asked if a

70-year-old constituent was tugging at his sleeve pleading for one position or another would, he cut her off. pimen-tel stated it goes further than that. He stated “just yesterday two close friends were urging completely different posi-tions.” When asked if he cut them off from speaking fur-ther he smiled and said “i just let them talk. i just exhaust them.”

i asked whether he viewed the impeachment as some percentage legal and some percentage political, or 100% legal and 100% political. Senator pimentel stated that public opinion and constituent voices will have no role what-soever in his decision making, that as a lawyer he will only consider the facts presented in the trial.

From Page 1

The discussion then turned to the politicization of the courts, with corona hold-ing rallies, along with judges and court staff leaving their jobs midweek to hold dem-onstrations. pimentel stated that it was improper for that to be done, that litigants deserve to have judges and court staff at work, and that it was an issue of concern for him and other senators, in particular, criminal defend-ants being held in detention having to wait another three months to have their cases heard.

The discussion then turned to the historical im-pact of the Senate’s process of decision-making in the impeachment proceedings on future policymakers, and to avert future corruption.

Would an acquittal mean that high officials can act with impunity? Would a conviction be an attack on judicial inde-pendence? Senator pimentel responded that he did “not think about the effect of an acquittal.”

all in all, the senator did not seem in anyway burdened by his important historic role, and actually seemed to be enjoying the experience.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity given to us as senator-judges in the impeachment trial of no less than the chief Justice of the Supreme court. as a lawyer, i feel privileged and awed by this opportunity and awe-some responsibility to sit in judgment of no less than the top lawyer of our country,” pimentel said.

PWD Senior Columnist Joel Bander Interviews Sen. Pimentel in his Senate office

ExposePinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 2012 3Ray Pilaro Testimonial in Beirne’s Ads Violates Court OrderFrom Page 1

Ray Pilaro’s California Bungalow Style house that Attorney Beirne was not able to save. Pictures by Rene Villaroman/PWD

Source: Pilaro’s Chapter 13 BK Plan, Case 2:10-bk-15656-VZ Filed & Entered: 02/17/2010

Ray Pilaro’s business premises offer bankruptcy services even though he is not a lawyer.

First Beirne Petition Dismissed by Judge

Beirne forfeits Pilaro house in second bankruptcy.

ter, or to use a spokesperson with disclosure of the spokesperson’s title. That court order was issued in the summer of 2011 after it was determined that attorney Beirne was already repeatedly violating attorney ethics and adver-tising laws

it is unknown if Judge Bruguera will send attor-ney Beirne to jail for these repeated violations of the court order.

One of the subject ad-vertisements contains a picture and photograph of a Ray pilaro claiming he is one of the thousands of happy clients of attor-ney Beirne. However, in a seemingly clear violation of law and the court order attorney Beirne did not provide Mr. pilaro’s title in the advertisement. perhaps of greater interest is how pilaro could be consid-ered ‘happy’ as the first of two bankruptcy filings by attorney Beirne was dis-missed by the bankruptcy judge, and pilaro lost his house in the second bankruptcy filing, as attorney Beirne surrendered the pasadena california Bungalow style home as part of the second bankruptcy filing.

a reader of the ad, and pre-sumably the judge, are left won-dering how could pilaro know attorney Beirne has ‘thousands’ of happy clients?

Ray pilaro has refused to make

any comment to pinoyWatchDog.com’s investigative team, even though he is a public pitch man for attorney Beirne. He only asked ‘how did you get my cell phone number’? When informed it was on the front door of his business address he hung up. We

were unable to ask pilaro why he was happy that Beirne had to file two bankruptcy petitions for him, and why he was happy with the service even though Beirne was unable to save pilaro’s house.

investigation of Ray pilaro reveals that he is operating under the name of pillars Financial Ser-vices, inc. The name appears on the front door of the business at 342 N. allen and on its web page,

http://www.pillarsfinancial.com/index.html. However, pillars Fi-nancial Services, inc. is listed as ‘forfeited’ by the california Sec-retary of State web page.

Review of former editions of Weekend Balita reveal that pi-laro advertised in Balita Media,

owned by anthony allen, and his wife, luchie Men-doza. Many court filings and published news media reports disclosed that non-lawyer allen is the general manager of Beirne law Of-fice and Antony Allen and luchie Mendoza are the real owners of the law firm. The advertising demon-strates an ongoing business relationship with the Balita/Beirne organization.

The advertising was for a Kangen Water business, but that is not included on pilaro’s bankruptcy sched-ules as a source of income. The only source of income listed for pilaro was an Exodus Reality, inc. Even the operating business of pillars Financial Services, inc. was not including the Pilaro bankruptcy filing.

at press time pinoyWatch-Dog.com has not been able to ob-tain comment from Nancy curry, the bankruptcy trustee, regarding

possible bankruptcy fraud of both pilaro and attorney Beirne, as the Balita/Bierne joint business cer-tainly knew of these unreported enterprises.

attorney Beirne’s recent open letter of ‘Setting the Record Straight’, which has resulted in dozens of contempt of court alle-gations, emphasized how impor-tant it was that the firm’s ‘friends’ continue to make referrals. The sign outside Pilaro’s office of-fers ‘credit repair’ and ‘bank-ruptcy’ as among the services provided. as pilaro is not an at-torney, it would appear that he is part of the Balita/Beirne referral network seeking bankruptcy re-

ferrals. pinoyWatchDog.com is presently unable to determine if this advertising on Pilaro’s office is illegal.

While pilaro refuses to answer pinoyWatchDog.com’s questions attorney Joel Bander commented that in the contempt trial pilaro cannot refuse to answer questions unless he pleads the Fifth amend-ment against self incrimination. Bander initiated the contempt proceeding on behalf of his cli-ents, Diosdado and Janet Duldu-lao, who lost their house when Attorney Beirne failed to file a bankruptcy petition to save their home, as he falsely promised in the advertising.

Saturday, January 21, 2012PinoyWatchDog.Com

6. pacana, a former regional auditor of the Tan-owned allied Banking corp., charged that the two firms owned by tycoon lucio Tan used dummy compa-nies to avoid paying taxes in the billions of pesos.

The question is whether commis-sioner Henares of BiR and the president would be different from their predeces-sors who proved no match against the wily tycoon, Pacaňa said.

in response to a question about his safety considering the crime situation

in the homeland, Pacaňa answered: “Dionesio, since i started this crusade for corporate integrity in 1987 and fight against corruption in my own little way, i considered myself dead already as i’m up against the Great Wall of china. This had been a lonely journey on a path less traveled. What keeps me breathing are people who look at the forest instead of just the tree.”

Pacaňa added that he always carry in his pockets a crucifix, a rosary and a whistle for protection. He also requested that should anything happen to him, “please shout to the whole world that no

one else is responsible for it but lucio Tan.”

FacE OFF aGaiNST a TycOON by Danilo Pacaňa chronicles the au-thor’s true-to-life crusade that spans 15 years “against economic sabotage and corruption by tycoon, lucio c. Tan, world’s 582 billionaire and 2nd rich-est in the phils, in connivance with top government officials up to the level of the presidency.” it is further described as an epic battle between David and Goliath in the modern era; the first and only book on corporate whistle blowing in the philippines. The book is available in Kindle edition at amazon.com for $8.99.

By all accounts, lucio Tan, who re-portedly quit school to seek his fortune in scrap dealing, found success in no time at all. The article entitled “philip-pines’ most notorious crony capital-ist comes to NZ” by Murray Horton showed that indeed Tan didn’t need a degree to achieve meteoric rise. Hor-ton wrote: “as a young man he (Tan) moved into the tobacco industry, where he first met the young Congressman, Ferdinand Marcos. That was the key. in 1966, when Marcos was president, Tan founded Fortune Tobacco, which is now the country’s biggest tobacco company. it accounts for over half of all cigarettes sold in the philippines. Fortune took off after Marcos imposed martial law, in 1973, thanks to generous tax and other incentives... in 1982 he established Asia Brewery, benefiting from a Marcos ruling that allowed new beer companies to open.” another report mentions a sweetheart deal in which Tan reportedly paid only p500,000 for the bankrupt government-owned General Bank and Trust co. (GENBaNK).

Horton went on to narrate that in 1987 Rolando Gapud, the dictator’s fi-nancial adviser, bared how Tan had been regularly paying Marcos 60-100 million pesos a year -- in addition to the 60% equity given to the strongman on Tan’s businesses “in exchange for privileges and concessions that Mr. Marcos has been giving him.” However, to the great consternation of imelda Marcos, Tan managed to keep for himself Marcos’ interests in his businesses after the latter was overthrown.

The china-born tycoon managed to survive through the succeeding cory aquino administration and emerged a rising star again when Erap Estrada became vice-president and, later, presi-dent. according to the article, “Tan was the major financier of his (Estrada’s) successful presidential campaign. He became Estrada’s closest crony, regu-larly being seen with him in public and travelling with him (most unusual for the usually circumspect Filipino-chinese business class). Estrada looked after his mate – when the tax department charged Fortune Tobacco with p26.5 billion in tax evasion, Tan’s well placed connections throughout the bureau-cracy, judiciary and the political system (including the president) ensured that the charges were dropped (the court of appeals ruled that the Government had filed its case 11 days too late).”

another article by Sheila coronel noted “that the Estrada government made sure that Tan would have no more tax hassles by appointing a new tax commissioner who proclaimed himself a

Danilo Pacaña on a mission to slay Lucio Tan, a taipan dragon

longstanding friend of Tan.” an entry in Wikipedia states that

Beethoven Rualo, a close associate of Tan, was the new commissioner. With-in five months of Rualo’s appointment, two tax evasion charges against Tan’s firms that former Internal Revenue commissioner liwayway Vinzons chato had been pursuing – one against allied Bank for pHp 338 million, and another against Fortune Tobacco for pHp 8 billion – were reduced to zero and pHp 5 million, respectively.

The philippine center for inves-tigative Journalism blog has also an item about the Tan-Estrada connection. it said, “Other presidential friends such as lucio Tan and Eduardo ‘Danding’ cojuangco are also said to have made sure that the president’s women would be well provided for, and have even given them or members of their fami-lies either businesses or jobs that come with huge incomes.”

Writers yvonne T. chua, Sheila S. coronel, and Vinia M. Datinguinoo said that such acts had “raised serious questions of conflicts of interest, since many of these presidential friends are engaged in various businesses that inevitably need or seek out help from the government. Some of these pals have even found themselves entangled with the law, and many have noted the seeming inability of authorities to deal with them because of their perceived ties with the president.”

Estrada suffered the fate of Mar-cos but soon enough Tan’s uncanny instinct to survive found him in bed with yet another philippine president, Gloria arroyo Macapagal. The article said that “politics is only the means to enable him (Tan) to acquire more wealth and power. and any means will do.”

it is becoming apparent that even in the present Noynoy aquino adminis-tration Lucio Tan’s influence displays no decline as demonstrated recently by the controversial reversal of a final ruling by the Supreme court on the plight of philippine airline employees dismissed in 1998. Not until 2008 did the Sc ruled that the retrenchment was illegal. However, on Oct. 4, last year, the same Sc reversed that decision prompted by a mere letter from Tan’s pal pointing out a supposed technical flaw in that decision.

akbayan party-list Representative Walden Bello said the high tribunal’s decision created the impression that philippine airlines management was above the law.

“lucio Tan,” according to Solita Monsod, economics professor and former economic planning secretary, “is a role model for the worst kind of conduct as far as our national econom-ic objectives are concerned. He signals that you can evade taxes and get away with it, pay the courts and get the judges to decide in your favour, get good lawyers and delay your cases. The messages that are given by the kind of treatment that he gets from the Government are the antithesis of what we need for sustainable development: an even playing field and Government intervention of the right kind.”

This is the sort of dragon that ce-buano-leyteno whistleblower Danny Pacaňa has undertaken to slay.

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From Page 1

EditorialPinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 2012 5

PinoyWatchDog.com

is published fortnightly by Tanod Bayan, Inc., mailing address at P.O. Box 91400, Los Angeles, California 90009, Telephone Number (213) 261-7467

and e-mail address at editor@pinoywatchdog.com

Alfonso Gaerlan Aquino Rene Villaroman Executive Editor Managing Editor

Joel Bander Dionesio C. Grava Sarah Lei Spagnolo Senior Columnist Senior Writer Advertising Manager Lifestyle Editor

Francis Johann Verdote Arturo Cariaga, Winston A. Marbella Correspondent Manila Correspondents

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Web & SEO Strategist | Graphic Designer

VEN while the nation is transfixed to the impeachment trial of Supreme court chief Justice Renato corona, the phil-ippines’ most disadvantaged sector, the poor, continues to suffer the consequences of the philippine government’s

failure to arrest poverty’s downward spiral in this country of al-most 100 million people. poor denotes a per capita income of less than p46 a day (about US$1). Of the total number of poor Filipinos (23.9 million), 9.4 are ‘food poor’ who live on p32 a day (less than US$1), which is not even enough to buy enough sustenance to meet the required 2,000 calories a day, according to a scathing address delivered by christian Monsod, a legal-aid lawyer to farmers and peasants, member of the constitutional commission that wrote the philippines’ current constitution, and former chairman of the com-mission on Election.

Speaking at the Summit on poverty, inequality and Social Re-form attended by representatives of the poorest sectors of society, Monsod, declared, “The impeachment of chief Justice Renato co-rona and the broadened debate on constitutional issues are not going to bring out masses of the poor to take sides. To them the turmoil is a power struggle within the leadership class and distracts from the central issue in our society: poverty and gross inequalities.”

The efforts to reduce hunger have been a dismal government failure. in fact, hunger has steadily increased. although the real per capita incomes in the philippines have grown by 20 per cent over the past 20 years, the philippines’ neighbors in asia have fared much, much better. Malaysia’s per capita incomes have grown 400 per cent. Thailand’s is 500 per cent; and china’s is 1100 per cent. The philippines is endowed with an abundance of natural resources; one of the most bio-diverse areas of the world; but our mountains had been denuded, and today, the last, single remaining pristine forest is located in the island of palawan.

“it is not only guns that kill,” said Monsod. “poverty kills. it is slow death from hunger, from diseases that we thought no longer existed, from the loneliness of a life with an empty future. it is also dying of dignity.”

Monsod said the philippines is a country of contradictions. it is a country of two worlds; the world of the few, with gated communi-ties, with access to superior education, First-World health care and the money to control our politics and policies.

it is the world of many, with urban hovels and rural huts, inferior public schools, playgrounds that double as public streets and high-ways, poorly equipped and poorly manned public health centers, and marginal access to public office. The Philippines is an agrarian econ-omy but imports rice and other agricultural products. it has abundant fishery resources but its municipal fishermen have dwindling fish harvests; the coconut industry has earned millions of pesos, but the coconut farmers are among the poorest of the poor.

The challenge to church, business and political leaders, Monsod said, is to commit their social power and political capital to promote the agenda of the poor, even when it is against their own interests, or those of their benefactors and campaign contributors. “And finally the vision of a society finally rid of feudalism,” Monsod said. “The stakes are high. We are engaged not only in fighting poverty but also in saving our democracy.”

The stakes are high: get rid of feudalism and

save democracyE

T HE Department of Tourism tries on a shibboleth which had been used by Switzerland for over half a century, ostensibly, to boost its hold and share of the

asian tourism market. “it’s more fun in the philippines”, the new slogan for the indus-try’s offensive, is an open invitation to the pleasures and leisure the country can offer, highlighted by the filipinos’ acclaimed hos-pitality and friendliness. The usual formula is for the philippines to put on its Sunday best and roll out the red carpet as the allures of the country are paraded before the eyes of the expectant tourists and start counting up to 2 million, the targeted number. For extra entertainment, a good many eager tour-ists maybe accompanied to the congress build-ing and be part of the unfolding extravaganza that is the impeachment proceedings.

Manila is a natural tourist destination ever since the american co-lonial era. it is gifted with the lures of the south seas trade winds and the magnificence of a glorious sunset, and has always been dressed for all occasions. its populace seemed to be all happy in their state in life, and still can afford to be gen-erous and friendly to visitors. in his book, “My Wicked, Wicked Ways”, the Tasma-nian devil, the great Errol Flynn, actor and adventurer, found these traits of the Fili-pino as a means to raise the money needed for passage on a steamer to los angeles. He was in Manila in 1929 as a stowaway from Tasmania, australia via his family’s schooner, when he decided to go to Hol-lywood and pursue an acting career, but needed cash for passage He befriended a few locals who were avid cock fighters and were also considered the “tajores” of the game, or those moneyed generous players of the game. He hanged out with them for a few days and when they won, he bared them his problem that he needed to go to los angeles to become a Hollywood actor and he could use some cash for his passage. He got the money and went on to become a very famous actor.

The early beginnings of tourism in the philippines, as we know it today, were start-ed by those hardy americans who came in

More Fun, But Funnier This Time Around

search of fortunes and pleasures by way of those pan am clippers and steamships of the U.S. president lines, mostly in the 1930’s. Manila was booming with tourists just before World War ll, so much so that it was given the title as “the entertainment capital of asia”. Big bands were in great numbers and providing swing music in posh places like the Winter Garden of the Manila Hotel. When Manila was occupied by the Japanese, one of their generals, after having been regaled in the Manila Hotel by the Tirso cruz orchestra, made a tell-ing remark: The Filipino loves music and entertainment, this will never make them a great nation.

Never did he foresaw that it was the extraordinary courage of this nation, not by music and entertainment alone, that would eventu-ally defeat them in Bes-sang pass, resulting in their surrender and thus ended World War ll in the philip-pines.

In the fifties and sixties, just before martial law,t he government handled its tourism program through a government-owned corpo-ration, the Bureau of Trade and Tourism industry, and the attractions were pret-

ty much close to that of the 1930’s. The crowd this time were mostly those veter-ans of WWll who were on a sentimental journey to the scenes of their adventures, so much unlike those adventurers of yore in the prewar years. During this time, too, there was prosperity in the country, as we were enjoying the second strongest econo-my in asia, next to Japan, and we had the highest literacy rate in asia at 98%.

The philippines also had the distinction of being the “Fashion capital of asia” with Ramon Valera and pitoy Moreno leading the pack of pinoy coutouriers who were internationally acclaimed. and the big band era was still very much alive and that acco-lade as the “entertainment capital of asia” was still pretty much unsurpassed. Those were glorious decades, the fifties and the sixties.

i am taken to a nostalgic mood when-ever i delve into the realm of the past, and i cannot let pass the leisure of an evening of pleasure and tranquility just dissipate into the mist. There was this favorite haunt of

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Students, Today’s Lesson is Impeachment...

OpinionPinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 20126

T can be said, and his-tory can’t be changed. The celebration of pam-panga’s 440th anniver-sary and Foundation

Day is now a milestone by pDcc. It was the culmination of a five-year attempt to awaken the Spirit of Kapampangans in us. Even those who turned their backs to during our early years as we asked for their cooperation are now planning and saying they can do the same…better and with grandeur only they can do.

Finally the ‘Spirit’ is awakened. and this is the best compliment for us in trying to do what we can in spite of the lackluster attitudes of these same groups toward pDcc over the years. We have triggered the desire to hold the same obser-vance. We foresee that one after the other, Kapampangan associa-tions will now celebrate pampanga Day or aldo Ning Kapampangan as their annual main event.

There were those who claimed that they had been doing this be-fore. They said they held baseball games and picnics but not in De-cember. Simply stated, to have a right to that claim, they made them-selves look stupid and the laughing stock in the circles of Kabalens be-cause of their improper approach to the celebration. Unbelievable were the claims of some who said they had been doing these in los ange-les even before they formed their own associations. Susme. Their recorded dates of observance ante-

dated the records of their existence as a group. Makarine yata yan.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

looking back, we want to thank Dr. Guinto, pioneer co-founder of circulo pampangueno who lent us his archival files of the proclama-tions, signed by former president Ferdinand Marcos, regarding the observance of the pampanga Day. Dr. Guinto’s love for the Kapam-pangans is deeply rooted in his heart that if only he can travel fre-quently, we may have the honor of his presence in our gathering.

lately, we observed the forma-tion of many Kalayaan groups in los angeles. That makes the ob-servance of the celebration of June 12 a must wait- and-see affair. We foresee the same pampanga Day awakening now to have more and more Kapampangan associations to do the same. But please, do it with propriety and don’t compete with each other; in the end nulli-fying all your efforts. let not the pampanga Day be a reason for us to be divided. Rather, let us celebrate it to create and establish a solid aguman Kapampangan anywhere and anytime. There are many solid and stable Kapampangan associa-tions here in Southern california, and so with other cities and States. They have good and reliable lead-ers. Through them, we envision the dawn of the coming years when there will be a simultaneous cel-ebration of pampanga Day or aldo

Ning Kapampangan by all Kapam-pangans. let us show the other as-sociations that if we can do it, they too can do it.

To those who finally decided to join the pampanga Day annu-ally, go for it. it can be done. Bury the ego and forget self aggrandize-ment. We all can do it.

THE HUMANE SIDE OF GOV LILIA ‘NANAY BABY’ PINEDA

prior to the pampanga Day cel-ebration at the laX Hilton Hotel, we heard a lot of comments about the pampanga governor.. Some favorable, others not so, in the pro-cess.

We were hesitant to believe she did not lose her first try in the pampanga governor’s election when she was first matched against among Ed panlilio. We followed and clung to the beliefs of others who said the people had spoken…among Ed really won the election.

But when the clouds of doubts cleared and brightened the po-litical scenario, more so when the cOMElEc decided to give Governor lilia pineda the votes for “Nanay Baby,” we decided to wait for that moment when we can prove the cOMElEc wrong.

On March 26, 2011, we heard her spoke in a simple manner. No pretension, no “yabang” coming from a government official. When we invited her to attend the pam-panga Day, she agreed with the en-dorsement of former pHl president

PDCC’s Celebration of Pampanga’s 440th Foundation Day Now a Milestone

and now congresswoman GMa.On Dec 3, we saw the other

side of Governor pineda. No doubt she really deserves the title “Nanay Baby.” She always has in mind the mayors in her company and some Sangguniang panlalawigan mem-bers. She always asked her com-panion John Susi if they are all OK.

When she spoke in the gover-nor’s Open Forum to the Kapam-pangans, she chose to speak in our dialect. She spoke in Kapampan-gan to reach out to the hearts of all our kabalens. Even the mayors in her entourage said this was the first time Nanay Baby talked emotion-ally and with feeling. She invited Kapampangans in america to go home and see all the developments in pampanga.

i became homesick when they showed on the screen all the pro-gress taking place. The fiestas, the food, the religious practices, the modern buildings and malls. i was not ashamed to be teary-eyed when everybody sang Kapampangan tamu, abe-abe tamu.

as i sat listening to her clos-ing remark, i told myself, by hook or by crook i will be in pampanga where i was born before i close my eyes..

During the gala night she ar-rived in very simple looking attire. No aura or semblance of being the top honcho of pampanga. instead of wearing impressive dress with the glitters of sequins and motifs, the governor chose to be in her most relaxing attire, not too showy, but enough for the occasion.

When asked for her speech, she opted to have a table-to-table pic-ture taking rather than individual posing with the crowd. She wanted to show those in attendance that she recognized their presence and as such, this should be recorded in picture with her. She had all the time to talk and gave her smile any-time. She invited those she talked to on her round the clock posing to go home and visit pampanga. “Muli kayo at lawan yo ngan ing pamagbayo.”

I told myself this was the first time I saw a government official so simple and honest that had you not known her to be an elected of-ficial, you won’t ever think she is the governor.

That in a nucleus is the secret of Gov. lilia pineda. Her humane side. concern for everybody in her most simple way, acting like a “Na-nay Baby” to everybody. Treating each mayor like a member of her household. in away leading to the inspired performance of these offi-cials; making every town managed by satisfied official with proper handling of funds and excellent management.

I

F Corona’s ‘day in court’

iNally, Supreme court chief Justice Renato corona had his day in court. accused of betrayal of public

trust, and graft and corruption, and culpable violation of the con-stitution, corona was impeached by the House of Representatives and is now facing his accusers – eleven representatives of the peo-ple – before a Senate impeach-ment trial with the 23 senators sitting as judges.

corona and his wife cristina attended the first day of the trial to prove -- as his chief defense coun-sel retired Supreme court Justice Serafin Cuevas pronounced -- that he is not hiding anything. But as it turned out, corona’s defense at-torneys demanded that the list of 45 properties allegedly owned by the coronas not be accepted in the trial. if he was not really hid-ing anything, why would he ob-ject to the introduction of public information as evidence?

Collective voice The impeachment trial is all

about corona’s character. it’s all laid out in the prosecution team’s opening statement, which was read by congressman-prosecutor Niel c. Tupas Jr.

“as public servants,” Tupas began, “we took an oath to uphold

the people’s will at all times. all who hold positions in the govern-ment of our Republic are account-able for their actions. For the power of the sovereign Filipino people is a power that is higher than the Executive, the legisla-tive or even the Judiciary. and therefore, no matter how high and mighty one’s position may be, one can never, ever be beyond public accountability. Today, we lay down before this impeach-ment tribunal the product of the collective voice of the people.”

Having said that, Tupas then crystallized the prosecution’s ob-jective: “We are not here to indict the Supreme court as an institu-tion, or to do battle with the ju-dicial branch of government. We are here to search for the truth so as to restore the strength and independence of the judiciary. We are here because one man -- chief Justice Renato corona -- has bartered away for a pot of porridge the effectiveness, the independence, and the honor of the Supreme court. Mr. Senate president, your honors, one very important question before this honorable impeachment tribunal is, by what standards should Re-nato corona be judged?”

After he briefly extolled two Supreme court icons, cayetano Arellano, the first Chief Justice

and Jose abad Santos, who pre-ferred to die at the hands of the Japanese rather than betray his country, Tupas said: “The code of Judicial conduct demands that a judge must be like caesar’s wife -- someone who must not only be pure but must be beyond sus-picion at all times. Therefore, a Justice must be judged according to the highest standards. against such standards, we then ask: Who is chief Justice corona? What kind of a man is he?”

Tupas described corona as a “loyal servant” to former presi-dent Gloria Macapagal arroyo from the time she became Vice-president in 1998 until she be-came president in 2001. Then arroyo appointed corona’s wife

cristina to plum positions in the camp John Hay Management corporation and then appointed corona himself as associate Jus-tice of the Supreme court, and the “best reward” of all, corona took a “midnight oath” as chief Justice. Tupas said that corona’s appointment as chief Justice also served an “immoral” purpose: to shield arroyo from prosecution for her misdeeds during her presi-dency.

Tupas then outlined the eight articles of impeachment against corona. He mentioned arti-cle 2 last, saying: “And finally, we come to article 2 where the prosecution will prove that chief Justice Renato corona amassed ill-gotten wealth after he was ap-pointed to the Supreme court in 2002. To give you an idea of this article, let me present to you some of the prized pieces of the corona crown jewels,” and named sev-eral multi-million properties.

and in a stinging indictment of corona, Tupas said, “The gov-erning principle of our laws is clear: unexplained discrepancy between an official’s income and his assets, declared or unde-clared, is prima facie evidence of ill-gotten wealth, and therefore, is an impeachable crime of graft and corruption.”

“in closing,” he said, “the

message of the House, as the representatives of the people, is the same as that given by Oliver cromwell when he dismissed England’s long parliament on april 20 of 1653. Before God and country, we say: ‘it is high time for us to put an end to your sit-ting in that place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice, you are an enemy to good government, as you have sold your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas Escariot betrayed your God for a few pieces of gold. Depart i say, and let us have done with you. in the name of God, go!’ ”

Conspiracy theoryit was a lacerating rebuke to

corona who was at that time sit-ting at the Vip section with his wife. Makes one wonder how he felt? it must have taken him a lot of courage to make an ap-pearance at the opening day of the impeachment trial, knowing that the prosecution team would cer-tainly attack him. could it be that his appearance was calculated to evoke public sympathy and make him a martyr in the public eye?

But it must be remembered that for several days prior to his “day in court,” corona staged

Turn to Page 7

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, January 21, 2012 7

press conferences and public ral-lies and attacked several people of conspiracy to bring him down. First, he accused the land Regis-tration authority (lRa) admin-istrator of producing a fake list of 45 properties that were allegedly owned by corona, his wife and children, and in-laws. He brand-ed the list as a “hoax.”

and just hours before the im-peachment trial started, corona told his supporters who gathered in front of the Supreme court that three persons were conspiring to remove him from office. He said that the first wanted to stop the distribution of Hacienda lu-isita to farmer-beneficiaries, the second lost in his bid to become vice president, and the third “des-perately” wants to become chief Justice.

Midnight appointmentcorona shouldn’t blame any-

body but himself for the prob-lems he’s having now. it must be remembered that when he was nominated for the soon-to-be-vacant chief Justice position in the waning days of the arroyo

From Page 6

From Page 4

Corona’s ‘day in court’

N 1971, when i got my first job as a pho-tographer at the public Relations Office of the University of the East,

the cameras of choice by profes-sional photographers was the Nikon F. it was heavy, durable and could stand abuse in areas where they are pressed for service. During that time, the Vietnam War was still rag-ing, and the Nikon was pretty much the preferred workhorse camera of photojournalists covering the Vi-etnam conflict. Two of those pho-tographers, Willie Vicoy, who rep-resented United press international, and Jess Tan, who worked for as-sociated press, were two Filipino photojournalists who covered the Vietnam War for their respective news agencies. One of them, Wil-lie Vicoy, who had been working for Upi’s Manila bureau for many years before the Vietnam War era, had the honor of being nominated for the pulitzer prize for his cov-erage of the war, together with co-photographer, former White House chief photographer David Hume Kennerly. Guess who won? Ken-nerly. But Vicoy and Kennerly had remained very close friends despite Vicoy’s pulitzer prize loss to Ken-nerly. Vicoy was every Filipino photojournalist’s friend. He did not have. What he had was plenty of guts and nerves of steel. He was short in stature, and always had a ready smile and a readiness to get you to feel at ease. i would imagine that he could shoot black-and-white film without the use of a light me-ter, just like my idol Henri cartier-Bresson.

in or around 1977 or 1978, when i was hired as a photographer by the San Miguel corporation Public Relations Office, and sub-sequently promoted to writer one year later, i had the opportunity to hobnob with american photojour-nalists that accompanied president Gerald Ford on his official visit to the philippines, and i, together with my shooting buddy, Manny Goloyugo of the Daily Express and EXpRESSWEEK Magazine (both defunct) occupied a photographers’ stand high above the tarmac of the then Manila international airport. in those days, i was already a big fan of famous photojournalists, and standing with me and Manny was

Wally McNamee of Newsweek. He had a leica M4 hanging from his neck, and it looked so small on his huge chest. On both his shoulders hung several canon F1 bodies with wide-angle and telephoto lenses. Manny and i were by now already shooting with the newer Nikon F2’s, which were better made and had more modern and convenient features, plus faster motor drives to boot.

On the tarmac was David Ken-nerly; he with the movie star good looks and flamboyant manners. He was co-mingling with a coterie of other international photojournalists, who, ostensibly, belonged to the

team that traveled with president Ford. He wore a tan-colored short-sleeved safari jacket with a leica M5 hanging from its shoulder epau-lets. and he strutted on the tarmac like the envied White House chief photographer that dated one of Mr. Ford’s daughters.

Willie, poor guy, survived many years of his Vietnam War tour, but was later killed, ironically, while covering a firefight between Philip-pine troops and National people’s army rebels in Mountain province in luzon. i was already living in the United States when i heard about his unceremonious demise. Jess Tan, who studied at ateneo de Manila University did not have to go to Vietnam to cover the war for associated press in order to make a living. He is a scion of a wealthy family. He could buy all the latest Nikon cameras he could desire. in fact, i and my friends, including our pinoywatchDog,com correspond-ent Winston a. Marbella, would regularly ask Jess to purchase cam-

Some of the great Filipino photojournalists

I have knownI eras and lenses for us whenever he

traveled to Tokyo or Hong Kong on assignments.

But, my belief is that photojour-nalism was not really Jess’s cup of tea. To him it was just an opportu-nity that he could not pass up when he and the job met on the same path. Not so with my other photojournal-ist friend, andy Hernandez, who, in my humble opinion, achieved the highest level of recognition as a working Filipino photojournalist when he was appointed a contract photographer by Newsweek in the 1980s. His appointment also almost coincided with one of the greatest events that put the philip-pines in the global consciousness: the EDSa Revolution in February 1986. During the days leading to the fall of the former strongman, Ferdinand Marcos, andy was al-ready shooting almost exclusively for Newsweek in competition with the likes of Time Magazine’s lead-ing photojournalists, like James Nachtwey and Robin Moyer.

When andy was assigned as the Newsweek contract photog-rapher in USSR, he unerringly documented the disintegration of the iron curtain in the late 80s, his photographs of the fall of what president Ronald Reagan described as the “Evil Empire” occupying several pages of the international and US editions of Newsweek. To-day andy Hernandez has put down roots in frigid lithuania, married a beautiful lithuanian girl, and pres-ently dotes on two beautiful girls and a handsome dog.

The last time i saw him was no less memorable. We were in the same Philippine Airlines flight to the United States in March 1986, just a few days after the EDSa Revolution. He was on his way to New york to edit his photographs of the “people power” revolution for a book that he and the other photojournalists were putting out, and my wife and i were on our way to move to the US permanently. During a brief stopover at Narita international in Tokyo, he asked me if my move to the United States would be permanent, knowing that opportunities for photojournalists are quite limited in mainstream US media. i said yes. in hindsight, i think now that he already knew the answer.

mine in the glory years of the fif-ties and sixties called the Town’s Tavern, located along United Nations avenue, near the Hilton Hotel, in Ermita, Manila. Every night, it would be filled with tour-ists, locals and foreign. Watching these crowd, i developed the idea as to why they were attracted to this unpretentious joint. it was that Edith piaf song ---la Vie En Rose---and its exquisite melody. it was the Tavern’s theme song and was sung by an aging white Russian chanteuse named Nata-sha, wife of the owner, Whitey Smith, a former band leader whose set-up Dean Martin started his career, according to Whitey’s autobiography. However, in this joint, the music is not provided by a band, but a piano and violin duo played to heavenly strains. The last time i went to the place in 1969, the couple were no longer the owners and they were gone,

More Fun, But Funnier This Time Around

but i could still remember one other song Natasha sung--The last Time i Saw paris--from the movie of the same title and based on a story by F.Scott Fitzgerald. it gives me the shivers.

During the martial law years, the BTTi has become the Min-istry of Tourism and the first to head it was Jose D. aspiras, popularly called “Sunshine Joe”, mainly because his motto was--Spread the Sunshine. He set most of the policies that are in placed today and made the department one of the most productive arm of the government, revenue wise. Now, the present administration has embarked on a new offensive to improve its share of the asian market, and adapted a new slo-gan in the process: its More Fun in The philippines. as i said, the philippines is a natural tourists destination ever since. Just offer more fun, but must be funnier this time around.

administration, several other jus-tices were nominated including then-associate Justice and now-Ombudsman conchita carpio-Morales and associate Justice antonio carpio. carpio-Morales and carpio declined the nomina-tion noting that there was a ban on “midnight appointments.”

But corona accepted the nomination saying that it was the dream of every lawyer to be appointed to the highest posi-tion in the Judiciary. However, many warned him that accepting a “midnight appointment” could be problematic in the future. it was a self-fulfilling prophecy and look where he is right now – fighting to keep the position that he dreamed about all his life.

it’s too early to see how the political weather vane would turn. But if corona were acquit-ted, would history give him a place to occupy next to cayetano arellano and Jose abad Santos? Or would an unforgiving people consign him to the dustbin of his-tory when he steps down in 2018?

He had his “day in court.” Quo vadis, corona? (perryDiaz@gmail.com)

RESiDENT Benigno aquino iii has ordered the dismissal of Na-tional Bureau of inves-tigation (NBi) Director

Magtanggol Gatdula for being im-plicated in a kidnap-extortion case and the release of the report of a Department of Justice (DOJ) fact-finding panel on the reasons for why Gatdula should go, the phil-ippine Daily inquirer reported on Thursday.

Justice Secretary leila de lima will appoint an officer in charge to take over Gatdula’s post “at the soonest possible time,” according to deputy presidential spokesper-son abigail Valte.

De lima on Thursday said she would be releasing soon the report

NBI chief Gatdula ordered axedof the DOJ fact-finding panel dated Jan. 6, 2012, that found Gatdula and several other NBI officials li-able for kidnapping and extorting money from a Japanese woman, Noriyo Ohara.

She said she submitted the re-port to the president on January 11.

according to Valte, “the presi-dent has no objections to the rec-ommendations and the findings of fact contained in the report”.

At a press briefing Thursday, De lima said the recommenda-tions of the fact-finding panel are not yet final because they still have to be subjected to a preliminary in-vestigation wherein probable cause would be determined before any case can be filed in court.

“We can never say, we can-

not say that this is already conclu-sive but these are the facts as un-earthed,” she said.

She said she would be creating a new panel to conduct the pre-liminary investigation of the NBi officials found liable by the fact-finding panel.

She said she accepted the find-ings of the panel with a heavy heart as “it’s not easy investigating our colleagues”. The NBi is directly under the justice department.

Gatdula’s culpabilityDe Lima said she wanted a fi-

nal determination of Gatdula’s cul-pability, either in relation to direct participation, obstruction of justice or just as an accessory.

She said the fact-finding panel Turn to Page 8

P

PinoyWatchDog.Com8 Saturday, January 21, 2012

have been quite privileged to be able to attend the Thursday, January 19, 2012 philippine

Senate impeachment pro-ceedings, bringing insights

not only to that process but to the law and culture of Filipinos. While i sought paral-lels from my own american impeachment experiences, watching the Nixon/Water-gate scandal unfold as a high school senior, where T.V. sets were set up throughout the school so students could watch when they could or liked, or the clinton farce impeach-ment, proved to be unhelpful benchmarks, as the circumstances of those cases were so different than the corona case. and crimes such a ‘plunder’ and ‘betrayal of public trust’ do not appear in american jurispru-dence.

For background, earlier in my life, from 1978 to 1981, i spent much time on capi-tol Hill in Washington, D.c. working as a lobbyist for the United Mine Workers un-ion. The rotunda, chambers, ornate halls and meeting rooms always was impressive, even if i was there every day. and having been a political professional for five years before law school in that and other capaci-ties i am well versed in the world of politics and lawmaking. But i was ready for less than capitol Hill for this philippine Senate visit. Heck, I was once in the office of the Speaker of the House of the arizona assem-bly thinking, ‘my office is nicer than this.’ I had been to Malacanang palace so i knew the levels of building stock would not be as if we were in the Manila peninsula Hotel.

i thought security was rather modest, considering it was the Senate and that the impeachment hearings were taking place. i had to pass by lots of security areas, as my taxi dropped me off at the wrong portion of the vast GSiS building, not knowing where the Senate was actually located. Visitors

pass through a single metal detector that did detect the metal in my shoes supports, as it does in california courthouses. Secu-rity to enter the Senate chamber was also quite light, with a cursory look into my bag, which was full of papers, and even a bottle of wine gifted to me by a Senator.

inside the hall, the atmosphere was re-laxed, as if we were to watch a lightly enter-taining show, and not an historic impeach-ment trial. i considered this a plus, not only an indication that Senator Enrile was hold-ing a fair and balanced proceeding, but re-flecting the general camaraderie of the Fili-pino people such as when a stranger is asked for directions or even assistance is needed when parking a car. Everyone seemed to be everyone else’s friend.

Even security was relaxed. One person was told not to take pictures, and then others would sneak to try to take them anyway. Se-curity knew they had no inherent problems.

The attendees appeared to be more akin to a television studio audience than watching an historic trial. The hall was not regal, but it was certainly satisfactory, smaller than i imagined for a country with almost 100 mil-lion people. However, i was also surprised there were only 24 senators. and even more surprised at how young these senators were (or am i just getting old.) But then review-ing a list of their ages i again realize that Filipinos do not get old that quickly.

One senator who is not young is Senator Juan ponce Enrile, undoubtedly a national treasure who will insure not only a balanced hearing, but that wide swaths of the popu-lace can understand the proceedings. From the point of view of central casting his stat-ure and demeanor could not be better. His handling of procedural and evidentiary mat-ters was fair, trying to keep the proceedings moving along but wanting everyone to have time.

But i won-dered why the an-nounced one min-ute breaks were always in real-ity fifteen minute breaks.

The slow pace of witness testi-mony and admit-ting evidence was a bit painful for me, as the impatient american. in an american trial with jurors the judge will always keep the case moving briskly, as these folks are taken from their jobs, school, families, etc. in the impeachment proceeding, no one seems to want things to move too quickly, lest the public believe a railroad conviction has occurred. The other observers just thought the slow pace was slightly amusing, but not burdensome.

Or they are not getting old as quickly as me.

a witness i saw, Taguig Register of Deeds atty. Randy Ruagquio, was non-plussed that he was momentarily in the na-tional limelight. He testified as if he was in a simple meeting. He was patient with both sides, even when the repeating of the pro-cess of registered land documents was be-coming a bit inane. almost as if someone sees atty. Ruagquio at the gym the next day and says “saw you on T.V.” with a reply of ‘yeah’ is about it. No big deal. No pressure.

and while the defense team was laugh-ing that the prosecutors could not lay the proper foundation for documents as simple as land registry deeds, Senator Enrile asked if the defense was even contesting some of these points as later corona Statement of assets, liabilities and Net Worth (SalN). He did not get a straight answer and moved on. He made his point though.

No one but me seemed to laugh but me

when the defense lawyer told Ruagquio that his name was forgotten and to please repeat it.

and it did seem a bit shameful that the prosecutors did not fully mark all of the day’s exhibits beforehand, citing a lack of time. There certainly seemed to be a lot of staffers with “impeachment Staff” tags around their neck walking around. Having been involved in directing staff teams to compile and mark exhibits and with all the energetic young staff around, it is hard to understand that marking of exhibits could not be done beforehand. Senator Enrile was far more patient than me on that score.

The whole atmosphere resembled a body of friends, in a club, an insular privi-leged class working out an internal dispute that the man on street has interest on, but do not feel they have a stake in the game. The defense lawyer taught the prosecutor, there are sibling senators and father son senators, there is the son of an impeached president, the son of a deposed president, two mutineers, a cast of longtime families that have been in this body since the creation of the Republic.

But stepping outside, the man on the street generally admit they do not know or understand the facts, and now that the pro-ceedings have begun, seem unsure if they are really going to be able to follow them, or if it really matters to them. The discussion of obsession and the distraction from economic issues seems to have been abated by the com-mencement of the trial, but in the end the taxi drivers might not know where to enter the Senate as in the end they might feel no real stake in the outcome.

My Day in the Philippine Senate Impeachment Trial

By Joel Bander

I

NBI chief Gatdula ordered axed

will also be given a limited period of time to review its findings as far as Gatdula’s culpa-bility for kidnapping and serious illegal de-tention are concerned.

“Given the rank, the status, given the magnitude, i just want to be very sure,” she said.

De lima said she will also meet with Gatdula whose one-month leave ended last Monday.

“I can confirm that Director Magtang-gol Gatdula will be replaced, but as to his replacement the president is still evaluating this,” she told reporters at the anniversary of the criminal investigation and Detection Group (ciDG) at the philippine National po-lice headquarters in camp crame.

She said Mr. aquino was “still evaluat-ing” the candidates for NBi director. De lima would not say who were being consid-ered to replace Gatdula, saying she did not want to preempt the president. But she ad-mitted she would not hesitate to recommend ciDG chief, Director Samuel pagdilao Jr., who was standing right behind her.

Deputy customs commissioner Danilo lim on Thursday denied that he was lobby-ing for the post after a report came out that he had written to the president about it.

“if i’m recommended by Secretary De lima, then i’ll think about it, but i did not ap-ply or write anyone about it,” he said.

lim, who was a candidate for senator in Mr. aquino’s senatorial ticket in 2010, said De lima had once asked him if she could recommend him for the NBi chief post.

Off HoursSaturday, January 21, 2012

PinoyWatchDog.Com

Tales fromPuerto Princesa, PalawanWords and pictures by Sarah Lei Spagnolo

UST three days before christmas Eve my aunt and i squeeze in a three day, two night stay

at the city of puerto princesa in palawan, a seemingly short visit which would soon turn out to be the highlight of our entire vacation in the philippines. it will be a first for both of us. At noon we board a Cebu Pacific Airlines flight from Mactan-cebu international airport. The plane’s humidifier creates white clouds above our heads keeping us cool while we settle into our seats. As I flip through Smile, the in-flight magazine, I am giddy with excitement and anticipation. an hour from now we would be setting foot in the so-called last ecological frontier of the philippines.

prior to our trip, i perused several travel websites and came across TheVideocamproject.com, a video blog created by Mark and Hazel Esguerra. i watched closely as the couple detailed their tour of The puerto princesa Underground River in an effort to help the country campaign for its bid as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Mesmerized by the complexity of the sights and sounds in the six-minute feature, i felt compelled to visit. after a prompt exchange of phone calls and emails, i was able to successfully book a tour with amika Travel & Tours, specializing in palawan tour packages.

Our plane slowly approaches puerto princesa airport and from my window i see a sprawling green carpet of lush tropical para-dise. i am already impressed.

Jeff, our driver, is eagerly waiting for us outside carrying a huge sign boldly painted with our hotel’s name. “Watch your head

J

Riding a carabao-drawn carriage is an exciting way to enjoy Sabang Beach.

Turn to Page 10

9

A rock formation found in the Underground River has an uncanny resemblance to a melting candle.

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, January 21, 2012

ma’am,” he says with a humorous smile as we climb into the back of a white Toyota Gl Grandia van. He would say this again count-less times during the span of our tour like it was the most important piece of advice he’d ever given anyone in his life. He proceeds to take us to Hotel centro in downtown puerto princesa where we’ll eventually spend the next three days. The building emerges grandiosely from the thriving greenery around it, its façade a true testament to modern architecture. it was a speedy check-in at the front desk then we head upstairs to our Deluxe Room to freshen up and grab a late lunch at the hotel’s elegant restaurant, the Expressions café. There we are warmly greeted by Michelle Tiotangco, owner of amika Travel & Tours, and Kharla M. luneta, Marketing & commu-nications Officer of Hotel Centro.

“Once you’ve been here, you’ll always want to ‘come back, come back’.” Ms. luneta explains of the island’s catch phrase. “it’s a recurring syndrome all visitors get whenever they visit palawan.” We were about to put that to the test.

after a satisfying buffet lunch we begin our big adventure. We are joined by our tour guide Fritz,

Tales from Puerto Princesa, PalawanFrom Page 9

whose vast knowledge and pas-sion for palawan is immediately evident. My aunt and i become like sponges, absorbing informa-tion as he feeds us one trivia after the other. i like his energy and sense of humor; together he and Jeff make an excellent team. The itinerary they’ve prepared for us has been cleverly timed to maxi-

Our driver Jeff (left) and tour guide Fritz (right) of Amika Travel & Tours welcome us to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Myself (left) with Hotel Centro’s Kharla M. Luneta (center) and Michelle Tiotangco (right) of Amika Travel & Tours.

Binuatan Creations opens its work space to visitors and encourages them get in touch with their creative side.

Pony up P50 for a horse ride around Mitra’s Ranch, frequented by many tourists for its beau-tiful views.

A local guide shows me to pull myself up using knotted ropes while spelunking at Ugong Rock.

Sunrise on the horizon of Honda Bay, where boats take passengers on island hopping trips.

Sue Bell of Michigamme, Michigan, who is a first time tourist in the Philippines, effortlessly holds a baby crocodile at the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center or Crocodile Farm.

Ziplining through a forest canopy at Irawan Eco Park is a big draw for many tourists seeking adventure.

10

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mize our schedule. For our first stop they take us to the

crocodile Farm, now more formally known as the palawan Wildlife Rescue and conservation center. it is a 30-minute drive from the main part of the city. By the main entrance there are kiosks where visitors can get a souvenir picture taken with a baby crocodile. My aunt flawlessly puckers up to one of them. When it’s my turn, i touch it for a moment and scream garnering laughter from other visitors around me. i try for the second time and scream some more. i decide to give up for now. While waiting for more people to gather for the guided tour, we check out the 17-foot-long skeleton of what was once the largest crocodile ever captured; its hardened flesh is mounted on the wall. We tour the facility and learn a little bit about how crocodiles are farmed from the

hatching phase to adulthood. The guide warns us not to get too close to the crocodiles in the fiberglass tubs especially when snapping pictures because they might snap back. We continue to follow the guide on a wooden bridge above a swampy den housing the adult crocodiles. Too bad it is too late for us to observe the feeding time.

The croco-diles appear to

PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, January 21, 2012 11be the biggest draw at the conservation site, but soon we find ourselves exploring their mini-zoo in a forest where they housed more of palawan’s endemic species of wildlife. These included the bearcat, the bearded pig,

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safety gear. My aunt, a little less brave than i (she’s braver with crocodiles), has chosen to sit on her ride. We climb 69 steps to the drop off and suddenly I find myself soaring

turtles, hornbills, my-nah birds, the white-bellied sea eagle, and the philippine eagle. Before we leave, i give the photo-op with the baby crocodile another shot. again i couldn’t find the cour-age to carry it with my hands even though its mouth is safely tied up.

Back on the road, it doesn’t take long for us to arrive at irawan Eco park. little did i know that our next stop would challenge my fear of heights. i’ve chosen the Super-man flight and two men assist me with my

The crystal clear waters of Pandan Island reveal bountiful marine life.

PinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 2012

12

through a forest canopy with views straight out of the lost series. The almost mile-long flight is said to be the longest zipline in Asia so far. We complete it in seven minutes coursing through a couple stopovers to get to a couple other drop-offs. i’ve never expe-rienced such a thrill in my life! and i think i may have found a new addiction…

at the landing area, they award us with certificates together with a picture of us hanging on the zipline with two thumbs up. My aunt earns a nickname from one of the local ladies, “Goldilocks.” it sticks.

at Baker’s Hill we get a chance to relax and catch up on conversations. We learn how Baker’s Hill evolved from being a bakery into a charming theme park visited by hundreds of tourists every day. Diverse gardens, fiberglass sculptures and Disney characters abound. if Jeff and Fritz, hadn’t packed sandwiches for us in the van, we would have had room in our stomachs for their delicious baked goodies. Seriously. The temptation was very difficult to resist.

An avid weaver, my aunt finds herself in seventh heaven when they bring us to the nearby Binuatan creations. it is already dark and we are the only visitors left. There is a teenage girl working on one of the wooden weaving machines and she invites each of us to try. One by one i insert some colorful indigenous fibers in the machine to help complete a placemat. The process seemed simple but tedious. in their showroom we purchase some of their finished goods as gifts for friends and family. The beautiful displays include coasters, totes, wallets, slip-pers, handbags and pretty much everything else that can be made from this dried native grass.

Day 1 is officially over. Exhausted from the day’s activities, we skip dinner and de-cide to retire to our room early to get ready for our 6am start tomorrow.

Before heading out again the next morn-ing, we hastily eat breakfast. We indulge in a warm bowl of arroz caldo at Expressions café. Fritz and Jeff are surprisingly punctual (i am not used to people being on time in the philippines) and cheerfully greet us in the lobby. They were certainly not joking about the early start. Today we are going to visit the puerto princesa Underground River, a two-hour drive from our hotel. along the way we stop to snap some pictures of the gorgeous scenery covered with lush vegetation. low hanging clouds gently hug the sides of the mountains and the sun rises slowly from across the horizon. The air is the freshest air i’ve breathed in a while. i inhale deeply and take full advantage of the moment.

you would have to be a well-trained driver to navigate the narrow, zigzag roads sprawled across the rugged part of the island’s landscape. When we pass through small villages, Jeff slows down to dodge lazy dogs, overtake motorcycles, and avoid people walking alongside the street. The paved highway is sporadically interrupted by rocky roads shaking us in our seats.

“They call this road,” Fritz says, pausing for effect. “abortion Road.” i guffaw loudly. By now i’m used to Fritz’s uber corny jokes.

We arrive at Sabang Beach along the northwestern tip of the island to where a row of boats were lined up each one with a number on them. While Fritz arranges for our boat, my aunt and i stroll along the shore barefoot and embrace the warmth of the sun on our skin. The early morning mist hovers above the sea as the waves harmoni-ously crash on the shore. it feels incred-ibly peaceful to be in this that moment. i glance at several fishermen unloading ice buckets from their boats probably from this morning’s catch. i turn my attention to a

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PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, January 21, 2012 13

basketball tournament that was just begin-ning on the boat terminal and move closer to watch while snacking on lemon iced tea and banana chips from the sari-sari store nearby. We get our boat number, 15, and are instructed to remember it. “Only six people, including the two boatmen are allowed per boat,” Fritz informs us. a middle-aged Dutch gentleman, who was also in the boat with us, politely introduced himself. We put on our neon orange lifejackets and i breathe a sigh of relief, glad that they prioritize safety measures.

Visitors from all over the country and around the world have been flocking to palawan to see the Underground River ever since it was chosen by worldwide voting as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in November 2011. This UNEScO World Heritage doesn’t disappoint, well at least to novice travelers like me. The boatman revs the engine of the pump boat and we are effortlessly launched towards the deep blue waters of the South china Sea.

after an uneventful 10-minute ride, a limonite cliff protruding from a picturesque blue bay dipped in semi-white sand greets us. i gasp at the splendor of beauty around me. along with other groups of tourists, we are led to the actual site of the Underground River, a placid lagoon murky from the recent rains. With a life vest and a helmet secured on our heads, we board a small banca, paddled by a boatman who doubled as our tour guide. We enter a gaping black hole under the St. paul Mountain Range and find ourselves surrounded with stunning rock formations closely resembling real life objects, even plants and animals. if you allow your imagination to get carried away, it can get creepy inside particularly with the sounds of screeching bats and a slew of stalactites and stalagmites. The voice of the guide, however, brings you back to reality as he points out various geological features formed over several hundred thousand years. Out of the river’s 8.5km length, we only cruise through 1.3km. a special permit from the city is needed to explore it further. i extend my hand out to touch the water it is a little colder than the beach.

The brief excursion in the dark water tunnel leaves me yearning for light again. The monitor lizards are waiting for us. i cau-tiously attempt to get closer for a picture, but they are relentlessly moving around.

at noon we have lunch back at Sabang Beach in a tiny beachfront hut. When it’s over my aunt and i receive a delightful sur-prise. “Wait here,” Fritz tells us. a carabao-

drawn carriage appears from behind the coconut trees and we hop on as it takes us for a quiet ride along the shore. No motors, no engines; just the sweet symphony of the beach. We couldn’t help but giggle at times because it was quite an amusing experience.

Ugong Rock is next on our buzzing itin-erary. it is located in Brgy. Tagabinet, puerto princesa, one of the many villages on the is-land without electricity. i learn a new word, “spelunking,” which means the hobby or practice of exploring caves. My aunt admits she is losing her steam and decides to pass on this one. lea, my cave guide, and Fritz accompany me as we explore the recesses of Ugong Rock, unique for the reverberat-ing sound it makes when you tap a column. When stalactite and stalagmite connect, they form a column and this cave has several of them. We carefully find our way to the exit by slipping through narrow spaces and pas-sageways. My physical endurance is tested during this 75-foot climb and when we final-ly get to the top i am sweaty and exhausted. But my exhaustion goes away when i see gorgeous views exploding around me from the view deck. The only way back down was to zipline 350 meters across a vast rice field. Talk about exhilarating. The descent was worth the treacherous climb and I find myself smiling from ear-to-ear.

On the way back to the hotel, we take a quick detour to Mitra’s Ranch. The hill-top destination, owned by former Senator Ramon Mitra, provides panoramic views of the emerald city. Not only that, they offer horse rides around the property. i am tired but decide to go for one round with Eric, my guide, and a gentle horse who is his namesake.

We shuffle around the city to see some landmarks including the church and the bay walk where the tallest christmas tree in the philippines proudly stood. Then we visit a souvenir shop and purchase pasalubong for friends and family. Their cashew wine caught our interest and so did their jars of honey and pearl jewelry.

For dinner, Jeff made reservations for us at a popular Filipino restaurant in downtown puerto princesa called Ka lui. The hotel contacts one of their registered tricycle drivers and we feel safe heading out to the city on our own. at Ka lui we are asked to leave our slippers in a locker before stepping into the dining area. The restaurant is warm and inviting, designed to reflect a tradi-tional Filipino home. We rapidly scan their menu and order fruit shakes to refresh our weary selves. Our dinner choices primarily

comprised of seafood dishes including their remarkable Tubbataha Salad made with fresh tuna strips and bits of fruits seasoned with palawan dressing. interestingly enough i discover later on that it is named after the Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea.

On our last day at puerto princesa, my aunt and i feel sad and anxious to leave this extraordinary place. But our sojourn isn’t over. at 6am sharp we travel to Honda Bay for an island hopping excursion to pandan island. My aunt looks beautifully content as the breeze ruffles her long silver hair. I take a nap during the 45-minute boat ride and wake up to the most astounding sight of white, sandy beaches at isla pandan Day Resort. We are the first ones to arrive and we pretend like it is our own private island. i gather a bag of bread, my snorkel, water-proof camera case, and booties ready, all of which i rented from a dive shop along the way to Honda Bay. i meet Jesse, my boat-man, a young dude with ripped abs and his name tattooed in black ink across his chest. He is to take me out to sea for snorkeling and fish feeding. I hang on to a lifesaver and we swim towards the middle of this giant aquarium. The view down below is fantastic. Picture a rugged seafloor alive with corals, sea urchins and starfish. Schools of tropical fish such as angelfish, clownfish, and but-terfly fish flock towards me when they see

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the bread in my hands. it tickles when they pick on my fingers. We rest on a huge rock sprouting from the bottom of the sea out of nowhere and experiment with underwater shots.

We head back to the shore where my aunt is staring out the sea and waiting for us. While we were away, Jeff and Fritz, got busy cooking our lunch. We walk back to our native gazebo and are impressed by the feast they’ve prepared. We shamelessly dive into our meal consisting of barbecued pork and Lapu-Lapu fish with rice and slices of green mangoes with a side of shrimp paste for dipping. How often does one get to experience heaven on earth?

around 10am we gather our belong-ings and return to the mainland. My aunt and I take a final look at Pandan Island before heading up the ramp of the boat. This place, brimming with marine life and luxurious beaches, is only one of the 7,107 islands on the philippine archipel-ago. Filipinos are truly blessed. Grateful for the experiences that rained on us during these past three days, we think we’ll save the other islands for next time because we have a flight to catch. To the people of palawan whose politeness and generosity has touched the core of our hearts, we say, “We’ll definitely come back, come back.”

A placid lagoon spills out from the entrance to the Puerto Princesa Underground River.

Saturday, January 21, 2012CommunityPinoyWatchDog.Com

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T Noypitz’s grand opening last January 15, i was reminded of a dictum an acquaint-ance told me during

our final exam. He told me “Early is on time, and on time is late.” He referred to the students who were still not in the classroom. Since then the saying had been stuck in my head like chewing gum under tables.

So with the motto in my head, i found myself standing outside, 20 minutes before 6:00pm, the new Filipino bar and restaurant. at the entrance, a staff-in-charge stopped and asked me, “Do you have a reservation or an invite?” i answered with a “No.” “There’s a $25 entrance fee if you don’t have an invitation,” said the staff person i spoke with.

Thank God or Buddha or Krish-na or allah or Darwin for the words “i work for a newspaper” and “i’m a member of the press” as it got me beyond Noypitz’s gate and podium. inside i was to experience the cele-bration of Noypitz’s official induc-tion to the general public.

as i walk past the attendants, several people busied themselves with their own private matters. The smell of spilled wine lingered in the patio. There were people with their DSlRs chatting and sipping their wine. Other people erected a back-drop where guests and visitors have their pictures taken.

inside the restaurant, except for the people at the bar and the busy event organizers, tables and other guests were half-empty. The bar was alive; the bartenders were busy, as visitors got intoxicated.

The new addition to Noypitz’s repertoire was the now functioning wine closet. The first few times I was at Noypitz, the wine closet was just an empty closet with rows of shelving and wine racks.

The clock struck six and specta-tors were slow to arrive and a cho-ral group was still polishing their

Noypitz Bar-Restaurant has Launched itself in the Orbit of The Filipino-American Community in Los Angeles

By Francis Johann VerdoteCorrespondent

set. i waited for the show to begin. as i waited my vision was over-stimulated by the 14 HD television sets around the restaurant. Every-thing i saw on the television looked like clips, footages, and photos, even though they were either a live coverage of the Golden Globes or the pac12.

i sat at the bar and ordered a bottle of Red Horse and the all-time favorite Filipino pulutan, sisig. i noticed as i waited for my food and drink two Roman pillars standing tall at the end of a 5-step staircase. From the looks of it, the area was a lounge where performers and/or Vips could mingle; the spot was secluded from the rest of the res-taurant and had a tiny walkway that lead to the stage.

a few minutes before 7:00pm people began to fill-up the reserved tables. Outside a short line had formed as the attendants checked and cleared the names of visitors. later that night, the management had had to reject walk-ins as the restaurant reached its seating ca-pacity. at that time, an ant colony looked more organized than the anxious people inside Noypitz.

anyway, as i feasted on my sisig and beer i saw a male guest walking back with four empty wine bottles. i thought, only a man so depressed or troubled could empty out those wine bottles.

The bartenders worked harder as people ordered their drinks. But every time the bartenders mixed a drink or opened a beer bottle, it seemed as if everything they did were an artwork they created.

intoxication and alcoholic ref-erences aside, Noypitz’s grand opening was a G-Rated family event. people of all ages breathed the Noypitz air for the next four hours or so. Toddlers, siblings, parents, and grandparents enjoyed the food, entertainment, and each other’s company. laughter and bowls of rice were passed around the individual tables.

While Hollywood folks gath-ered and honored themselves at the Golden Globes, the Filipino-amer-ican community congregated on the corner of Glenoaks Boulevard and Brand Boulevard.

in a blink of an eye, people’s images were sucked in tubes and transported from plates of mir-rors. Flashes blind other people from other tables, as guests began to show their trigger-happy tenden-cies. photographers indiscrimi-nately took photos of the attendees; some wore gaudy clothes, while others were either fashionistas or fashion victims. There were, how-ever, a few people that entered the restaurant with a come-as-you-are attitude.

Typically, show bands or cover

bands are a sideshow to a restau-rant’s main objective, which is to provide food and drinks to custom-ers. a cover band is no different than listening to the radio, cDs, records, or ipods while having dinner. Only a few people from a crowd will listen intently to a cover band’s music, even though it is not really their music.

The Noypitz grand opening was not exempted from this cover band stereotype. The cover band that performed filled in the moments when customers either chewed or swallowed their food. indiscrimi-nate murmuring from the crowd resounded in between songs.

But not all performers, art-ists, and entertainers were left as a sideshow. Veteran musicians and performers such as Joey albert, Miguel Vera, Jo awayan, and intro-voys graced the Noypitz stage, and were welcomed by the dining audi-ence with sheer nostalgia. Most of them performed music they were known for in the philippines.

in between performances, the emcee raffled out tungsten brace-lets, diamond pendants, and point-and-shoot digital cameras – all courtesy of the event’s sponsors.

i stepped out of the restaurant and walked around the patio, and

there i overheard a few people talking about how crowded the restaurant was the whole weekend. But as they conversed i wondered “Why do Filipinos talk in English with each other when deep inside they know they’d rather converse in Tagalog?”

Was it to fit in with the general american public? Or were they trying to show how well versed they were in English with other Fil-ipino expatriates? i do not know. i do not have the answers in my pockets, but what i do “knowtice” is that alcohol aid some Filipinos speak in English as if it were their first language.

Nonetheless, Noypitz had suc-cessfully launched itself in the wide orbit of the Filipino-american community in los angeles.

in a way Noypitz has created a spot in los angeles that can com-pete with the more upscale Fil-am bars and restaurants in cerritos and artesia.

i left Noypitz at some point of the night. as i walked towards my car, the lingering sound of a band singing Mike Hanopol’s “laki sa layaw” followed my steps. and for some ineffable reason i found the song highly fitting as the night skies usher in a new day.

Attendees of Noypitz grand opening taking time to pose for a photo as they wait for their food and enjoy the night’s entertainment (January 15, 2012).

Jonathan Buencamino, Paco Arespacochaga, and the rest Introvoys perform to a standing room only night at Noypitz (January 15, 2012).

A young Filipino-American talent entertains Noypitz guests (January 15, 2012).

In a surprise appearance, Joey Albert and Louie Reyes enjoy their duet at Noypitz’s grand opening (January 15, 2012).

Louie Reyes and Miguel Vera enjoying their performance as the audience sat in amazement at the star-studded grand opening of Noypitz (January 15, 2012).

Filipino singer Miguel Vera entertains our kababayans (January 15, 2012).

Intensity 6 performs old songs bringing nostalgic mem-ories of our motherland, as visitors enjoy good food, good music, and good company (January 15, 2012).

Soundcheck. The choral tests Noypitz’s acoustics as they polish their set for the night’s performance (January 15, 2012).

A

CurrentsSaturday, January 21, 2012

PinoyWatchDog.Com

15Impeachment fever grips

entire nationFrom Page 1

From Page 1

The roots of Hacienda Luisita conflict

fore us, to determine whether such evidence and facts sufficiently and convincingly support the charges, and ultimately, to decide the fate of no less than the chief Justice of the Highest court of the land, and the head of a co-equal branch of our government,” Enrile said.

“(T)he Senate bears the sole responsibility to try and decide whether to convict or to acquit the respondent in an impeachment case, that is, whether or not the respondent official deserves to be removed from the office he or she occupies, based on the grounds dic-tated in the constitution,”

Then Enrile laid down the rules that will guide the trial:

“While it has often been said that, by and large, the trial in an im-peachment case is political in na-ture, nonetheless, such is neither an excuse nor a license for us to ignore and abandon our solemn and higher obligation and responsibility as a body of jurors to see to it that the Bill of Rights are observed and that justice is served, and to conduct the trial with impartiality and fair-ness, to hear the case with a clear and open mind, to weigh carefully in the scale the evidence against the

respondent, and to render to him a just verdict based on no other con-sideration than our constitution and laws, the facts presented to us, and our individual moral convic-tion.”

EXclUSiVE!!! (in an exclusive interview

with Sen. aquilino pimentel iii, pinoy Watchdog.com Sen-ior columnist Joel Bander who is in Manila to cover history in the making, pulled a scoop on the Manila and foreign media covering the event by eliciting from pimentel the yardstick he will personally use in deciding whether to acquit or convict co-rona. See front page story in this issue.)

Enrile continued: “although the ostensible respondent in the trial before us is the chief Justice of the Supreme court, we cannot escape the reality that, in a larger sense, the conduct of this trial and its outcome will necessarily have a serious impact on the entire nation.

“its success or failure to achieve the purpose for which the constitu-tion has provided this mechanism as part of our system of checks and

balances and of public accountabil-ity, may spell the success or failure of our democratic institutions, the strengthening or weakening of our sense of justice as a people, our stability or disintegration as a na-tion, and the triumph or demise of the rule of law in our land,” Enrile emphasized.

8 counts of impeachment Corona is the first Chief Jus-

tice of the Supreme court to be impeached or brought to trial in the Senate by the House of Repre-sentatives. He will be tried on eight counts of impeachment articles de-tailing crimes like “culpable viola-tion of the constitution,” graft and corruption, and “betrayal of public trust.”

The penalty is removal from of-fice upon conviction by two-thirds of the 23 senators sitting as judges, or 16 votes. corona will be acquit-ted if he gets seven.

as both houses of congress prepared for the gathering legal storm, Senate Minority leader alan peter S. cayetano said, “it is not only the chief Justice who is on trial. We all are.

among other crimes, the chief Justice is charged with having been

allegedly one-sided in his court de-cisions favoring former president Gloria Macapagal arroyo, now under hospital arrest for a string of crimes ranging from electoral sabo-tage to bribery.

Extraordinary remedy impeachment is an extraor-

dinary remedy provided by the constitution for the removal from office of specific impeachable offi-cials. These include the president, Vice president, justices of the Su-preme court, members of constitu-tional bodies like the commission on Elections, and the Ombudsman, or chief government prosecutor in graft cases.

although it is not considered a judicial trial, the constitution pre-scribes strict legal requirements for impeachment, almost as rigid as those found in the Rules of court and rules of evidence in judicial

trials. in doing impeachment trial duty, the senators take an oath “to do impartial justice, according to the constitution and laws.”

The impeached official brought to trial enjoys all the rights of the accused guaranteed by the consti-tution. Still, the general misconcep-tion persists, even among members of congress, that impeachment is a “political process,” meaning decid-ed according to politics or partisan consideration.

‘Weak case’ corona’s chief defense coun-

sel, retired Supreme court associ-ate Justice Serafin Cuevas, said the trial by publicity proved that the House prosecutors considered their case “weak,” so they are resorting to pre-conditioning the public’s mind to exert pressure on the sena-tors, especially those running for election in 2013.

The communist insurgency was fueled largely by the feudal land ownership system the ameri-can commonwealth government in the philippines inherited from over 300 years of Spanish rule. Seeking to balance the economic and po-litical power of the ilustrados, the americans supported the rise of the middle class composed mostly of Filipinos with chinese roots (See cacique Democracy in the philip-pines by Benedict anderson).

This was how the cojuangcos of Tarlac came to own the vast Ha-cienda luisita estate from its Span-ish owners.

president Ramon Magsaysay considered it the centerpiece of his anti-insurgency campaign to remove the mass base of the com-munists by breaking up the feudal landholdings and giving the land to the farmers.

Conditional loanin 1958 the cojuangcos were

granted a government loan to ac-quire Hacienda luisita on condi-tion that the estate shall be distrib-uted to qualified tenant farmers after 10 years.

Barely 11 months into her term, president corazon aquino saw a demonstration of farmers in Mala-canang mowed down by govern-ment troops, leaving 13 dead.

On June 10, 1988 aquino promulgated the comprehensive agrarian Reform program. On august 23 that year, Hacienda lu-isita was incorporated, allowing the distribution of stock certificates to the landless farmers instead of land. It was the first corporation to do so.

Many more followed.On Nov. 16, 2004, a strike at

the Hacienda luisita led to the vio-lent dispersal of protesters by po-lice and military forces, leaving at least seven workers dead. at least seven more were killed in subse-quent violent incidents arising from the labor unrest, including an agli-payan church priest and a bishop.

in 2005, during the term of president Gloria Macapagal ar-royo, the Department of agrarian Reforms revoked the stock distri-bution option (SDO). The Haci-enda went to court. The recent Su-preme court ruling upholding the farmers after years of delay was the result.

Now the hard partin an earlier ruling last July 5,

the court ordered the DaR to “im-mediately schedule meetings with the farm workers and explain to them the effects, consequences and legal or practical implications of their choices.”

in the wake of the latest ruling, the DaR said they were ready to redistribute the land. DaR Sec-retary Virgilio de los Reyes said, “Unlike the other agrarian reform cases, we already know the benefi-ciaries here.”

The preparatory work includes determining how the land will be divided and who will be given land titles. The DaR will also verify the 6,296 beneficiaries and check this against the list made in 1989, he said. When the almost 5,000 hectares of land are parcelled out to almost 6,000 farmers, each will get about 7,806 square meters.

This may be the easy part of implementation. There is the more

difficult part of “just compensa-tion” for the cojuangcos, which may take years to adjudicate. The amount of compensation will be decided by the Supreme court, with corona likely to still be at the helm because he retires in 2018, two years past the term of the presi-dent

president aquino made a point of this in remarks reacting to the court decision. He said

land reform seeks to achieve two goals to “empower the farm-ers” but also to ensure that land-owners are “justly compensated” for giving up their lands, according to the philippine Daily inquirer.

Bishops’ concernThe influential Catholic Bish-

ops conference of the philippines said the court decision was just the first step in realizing true agrar-ian reform. it said the government must give farmers the needed sup-port and services to assist them in their production and social enter-prises. “Without this support, the farmers are always in danger of losing their lands.” the cBcp said.

The larger question, as the catholic bishops feared, is whether the farmers will survive this with-out much help from the aquino government. “president aquino must show impartiality and politi-cal will to implement social reform law,” the cBcp said.

ExodusFor Virginia paligutan, 80, the

day began at 2 a.m. on Thursday, November 24. She was to take pub-lic transportation from Hacienda luisita to Manila to personally hear the expected announcement of the

Supreme Court finally granting her, and thousands of other farmers, ti-tle to the land they have tilled for decades.

She stood with hundreds of other farm workers outside the Su-preme court to hear the announce-ment. It was the first mass action she had attended in her life. She wanted to hear it for her son Valen-tino, who had been retrenched from the vast Hacienda luisita owned by the cojuangco family, following a labor unrest arising from a stock distribution plan proposed in place of land distribution mandated by the comprehensive agrarian Re-form program (caRp) of 1988.

Valentino had gone to the hills to join the communist New peo-ple’s army. Valentino, 52, was killed in a firefight with govern-ment troops in 2005.

‘My child, we have won’Upon hearing the good news

at the Supreme court, Virginia’s quest was over. “My child,” she said, “we have won.”

“This is not for me,” said the grandmother of 13 children. in-cluding three of Valentino’s under her care. “i am already old,” she told the inquirer.

Over at the hacienda, farmers spilled out to the streets to cel-ebrate. “Everybody was dancing,” Virginia said.

Hacienda luisita sprawls across parts of Tarlac city and the towns of concepcion and la paz in the province of Tarlac in central luzon, famous for its vast agricul-tural lands. The region is called the Rice Granary of the philippines in history books.

Bloody disputein 1958, the cojuangcos ac-

quired the estate and a sugar mill

from its Spanish owners partly through government loans on con-dition the land would be distributed to farmers after 10 years under president Ramon Magsaysay’s so-cial justice program.

in 2006, or 38 years past the deadline the Department of agrar-ian Reform revoked the stock dis-tribution plan. Hacienda luisita took the dispute to court.

‘Celebrate with joy’“i thought i would die without

seeing this victory,” said anita Flo-res, 65, who has been tilling the land since 1963. Many have died fight-ing for their right to own a piece of land in luisita. i am happy because i will have something to leave to my grandchildren, and they can say that this land is the product of their grandmother’s struggle.”

“We celebrate with joy the de-cision,” said the influential Catho-lic Bishops conference of the phil-ippines.

a spokesperson of Hacienda luisita, Tony ligon, said: “it’s not an hacienda anymore,” he said. it will be owned by individuals. They can plant whatever they want.”

The decision put an end to a decades-long dispute emblematic of the country’s feudal land own-ership system. an estimated mil-lion more hectares of agricultural lands fall under the coverage of the caRp, with only two more years remaining for distribution.

president Magsaysay believed land reform was a key factor in his anti-insurgency program to quell peasant unrest in the region, hotbed of the communist rebellion.

“i did not even own a pot of soil before,” said Virginia paligutan, as she wept for her son Valentino, who had given up his life for a piece of this land.

PinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 2012

16

Sto. Nino finds home among Fil-Ams From Page 1 Devotees believe that the image of

the Holy Child has healing power.

Fil-Am devotees dance before an image of the Santo Nino. The Sinulog is a

forward-backward dance movement simulating the river current (sulog in

Cebuano) accompanied by the beating of drums and shouts of “Pit Senor!” This is

intended to please the Child Jesus, a legend says. It is also an act of reverence and

supplication for His blessing.

Filipino community in that part is cohesive and vibrant indeed. and just as it is elsewhere in the U.S. where pinoy expatriates congregate, manifestations of religious affiliations are most evident in January. it is Sinulog month in venera-tion of the child Jesus.

it’s more than a dec-ade since i last saw the perezes. That was the an-niversary observance of the death of the family’s patriarch, a former colleague of mine in what was then known as the cebu city police Department. The perez kids i knew then have since grown up, most of them with own families. in connec-tion with this article, i was able to reconnect to Beverly, now Mrs. Kyle Hendrikson and a practicing attorney in the Washington, D.c. area. Her sisters Marrisa and liezl also live and work nearby. That leaves the other sis-ter, Girlie, and brother arnold, together with their respective families, still with their mom in Torrance.

“Mommy still tries to host a small din-ner every Jan 8th (mom & dad’s wedding anniversary) in honor of Sto. Nino, but it gets smaller and smaller every year as the work that goes into it is becoming too much for her to handle as she gets older,” Beverly responded to my email inquiry. She was re-ferring to the family’s tradition of hosting a yearly observance in honor of the Holy child with close friends.

This practice of family-centered Santo Nino celebrations may be more prevalent than i know of. My wife and i used to be in-vited by the Gica couple -- Boy and chiquita -- to their anaheim residence together with some fellow cebuanos. The yearly gathering to celebrate the Holy infant later moved to the huge Saint pius V church on 7691 Or-angethorpe ave., Buena park.

i presume that small group was the start of what now is known simply as the Sinulog sa Buena park. it has tremendously grown in size in terms of attendance yet loosely organ-ized with volunteers tending to the yearly event. The food, the presentations, decor and other expenses are all donated, according to Tessie Siongco, formerly of Hilongos, leyte, and main spark of the group. “There are no leaders,” she added. The Gica couple had since returned to cebu, some people said.

The group will hold its fiesta in the same church starting 9:30 a.m. on January 21. it is the same date that another group called the culver city association of Southern cali-fornia has also scheduled theirs starting an hour later in the St. augustine church, 3850 Jasmine ave., culver city. an invitation to the latter event was emailed by Jane/Jinky labrador.

For the year 2012, however, and at least in Southern california, the Santo Nino de cebu association-Southern california, inc. (SNcaSc) heralded the Sinulog season with a full-capacity attendance in the los ange-les county arboretum, city of arcadia, last January 7. its current president, Willow lim, considered their group the biggest of its kind. SNCASC used to celebrate their fiesta in the St. cornelius church in long Beach.

local Sinulog festivities usually include prayer sessions (novenas), a Holy Mass and the traditional Sinulog dance. There are also cultural presentations and as usual with Fili-pino events, an abundance of food. images of various types and sizes of the Holy child are prominent during these celebrations. in addition to reasons of faith, occasions like this also enhance camaraderie and provide glimpses of the Filipino culture that even non-Filipinos and foreign-born Filipino chil-dren appreciate.

There are many other organizations in this part that usually celebrate the Santo Nino feast day at this time of year. The 19th an-nual Santo Nino Fiesta was held January 14

in the St. christopher catholic church, West covina. The Feast of the Miraculous infant Jesus of prague was on the same day in the cathedral of Our lady of angels

los angeles. Renee Estella O’neal, coor-dinator of the inland Empire Sinulog Dance Troupe that performed during the SNcaSc event, showed this writer a list of other Si-nulog events that had already engaged their group in the following venues: the St. linus catholic church, Norwalk city, on January 8; Sacred Heart catholic church in Rancho cucamonga, January 14; St. Elizabeth ann Seton in Ontario, January 14; and the Saint pius V church on January 21 mentioned above. Two other Sinulog events on that same day in the Holy Name of Jesus church in Redlands and the Our lady of the as-sumption church in San Bernardino could no longer be accommodated because of time conflicts.

Other organizations known to be cel-ebrating the Sinulog fiesta nearby: the Cru-zada de Santo Niño-USa in Glendale, the la-based Society of Santo Nino of america and the Taclobanon Santo Nino devotees, the Santo Nino group in Tujunga, the philippine independent catholic church in Van Nuys, Santo Nino celebration in the St. philom-ena catholic church in carson, the Filipino Ministry of St. anthony’s catholic church in long Beach and the infant Jesus of prague in canoga park.

From Houston, lawyer lope lindio for-warded the invitation to the annual Fiesta of Senor Santo Nino de cebu on January 28 in the Notre Dame catholic church, 7720 Boone Rd. This reminded me of a 2002 email from Rosario Javelosa, former depart-ment head of cebu’s University of San car-los where my wife also used to teach. Mrs. Javelosa wrote about her group’s plan to hold a Santo Nino celebration in their NW Hou-ston area. It would be a first, she said then even as she also asked for as much informa-tion about the Santo Nino history and how the celebration would proceed. i passed on his letter-request to members of my Santo Nino email network and subsequently received her thanks. i wonder if her efforts then had any bearing to the coming Houston event.

Other celebrations farther away from the los angeles area: the feast of the Holy child in the Saint anne catholic church in Union city, the Santo Niño de cebu in Hay-ward, the Señor Santo Niño 9-day novena and fiesta in Oxnard, the Santo Nino fiesta in the St. Michael’s abbey in lake Forest, the Santo Nino celebration of the Bullecir clan of Oxnard, the Santo Nino de cebu associa-tion international in San Francisco, the one in the St. Joseph cathedral/Basilica in San Jose, the Santo Nino and ati-atihan Festi-val in chesapeake, Virginia, the feast of the child Jesus in Minnesota and the Santo Nino Sinulog association of South Florida, inc. in Ft. lauderdale.

They say that Filipinos in the U.S.a. are a fractious, disunited lot. among the faithful, however, an identical reverence for the Holy child exists. pit Senyor kanatong tanan!

PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, January 21, 2012 17

ENVER Broncos quar-terback, Tim Tebow announced that the Tim Tebow Foundation, working with cURE

international, will be building a new children’s hospital in the phil-ippines. The Tebow cURE hospital is the first joint project between the two organizations. When com-pleted, the hospital will feature a 30 bed surgical facility, with a primary focus on orthopedics. The ground-breaking is scheduled for January and the hospital is expected to be completed in 2013.

Tebow, the son of american missionary parents, was born in the philippines. “i was born in the philippines and my parents have been missionaries to that area since 1985. The philippines have always had a special place in my heart,” Tebow said. “i’m excited to be a part of this hospital that will bring healing to thou-sands of children who would not otherwise have access to care.”

Here is an “OlD” sports article about him when he was still in college. al-though the article is old, it will give you a background on his philippine connection.

amidst the roaring chants of adoring fans, Tim Tebow tow-ers like a giant in the football field as he directed the offense of his col-legiate champi-onship team, the University of Florida Gators. He was the first college sophomore to win the much-coveted Heisman Trophy, given to only the best col-lege football players, he can stand as an equal to such football legends as Mike Ditka, Joe Schmidt, or Joe Montana. But Tim’s personal story goes beyond football. His other greatness lies in walking around as a virtual unknown in the muddy streets, dirty markets and slums of Mindanao where he preaches a message of love to those whose lives are mired in misery and pov-erty. “My conception and birth were beautiful stories of life. They were not stories about choices. They were stories of my parents’ selfless love of life and their un-wavering faith in God who knows and sets the bounds and ends of our lives” says Tim, in describing the agonizing circumstance and joyful outcome of his birth in the philip-pines, where his parents, Bob and Pam Tebow, worked for five years as Baptist church missionaries in South cotabato, Mindanao some 24 years ago. Because of the poor sanitation that was and still is a common situation in the rural areas of the philippines, Tim’s mother contracted dysentery while preg-nant with him. She fell into a coma. To combat her infection, her Filipi-no doctor administered a high dose of antibiotics that triggered the side effect of placental abruption.

The philippines, a predomi-

Tim Tebow and HisFilipino Connection

nantly catholic country, outlaws abortion except in cases when the life of the mother is endangered. Thus, the attending physician of pam Tebow recommended abor-tion. “But my christian faith led me to decide otherwise,” says pam. “i was flown to Makati, the country’s business capital, to seek the second advice of a medical specialist. With my strong trust in God and in the power of prayers, and encouraged by the care of my new doctor, i car-ried Tim to term and delivered him a normal infant.” “That baby who was at first handed a stillbirth sen-tence in the philippines would later carry a U.S. college football team to two national championships and is marked to go down as one of the greatest players ever to play the game of football,” says Urban Meyer, head coach of the Univer-sity of Florida Gators, the 2006 and 2008 Bowl championship Series

(BcS) collegiate champion, with whom Tim has played as quarter-back.

Twenty years after his birth in the philippines, Tim grabbed the sports headlines in the U.S. by contributing as a key reserve in the 2006 collegiate football national championship against Ohio State University. in that championship game, he threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, finish-ing with 39 rushing yards, which helped secure the 41-14 victory for his Gators team.

The Filipino Connection -“My parents moved back here

in the U.S. when i was three years old,” Tim recollects. “as i was still a toddler when i was there, i have vague memories of my having lived in the philippines, except perhaps my having been in the care of my Filipina yaya (babysitter). But one thing for sure, i have a deep attach-ment to the country and its people. i have been joining my dad’s chris-tian mission to the philippines eve-ry summer these last four years, and these trips have been my eye opener to the things that need to be done for the less fortunate people, espe-cially children, in that part of our world.” What Tim’s dad started in the philippines some twenty years ago as a young missionary is now a strong and established ministry of 45 Filipino evangelist staff and 13 workers now funded by the Bob

Tebow Evangelistic association of Jacksonville, Florida. it’s located in cotabato in Mindanao—the hotbed of the southern Muslim insurgency. “The mission is about bringing the faith of Jesus and the goodwill of the american people to over 15 mil-lion people in the island.

Through our church planting ministry, we have worked with over 10,000 local churches in the philippines to build new churches. We also work closely with a local seminary to train local pastors. We hold seasonal charity clinics to pro-vide free healthcare services and distribute medicines to poor peo-ple who can’t afford to see a doc-tor, much more, buy medicines,” says Tebow’s dad, Bob. “We also have built an orphanage, the Un-cle Dick’s Home, that now houses more than fifty homeless orphans.” Every summer, when schools are on break, Tim goes to that barangay (barrio) in the philippines where his dad had set up his mission. There, as a virtual unknown and away from the media spotlight, he walks the streets of cotabato and visits the markets of Digos with the Holy Bi-

ble in his hand to preach the gospel of Je-sus. He saddles homeless kids on his shoulder in the slums of Sarangani and plays kuya (big brother) to them while handing out candies and chocolates. He bathes in cold water just like the natives do, and runs er-rands for vol-unteer doctors and nurses who perform surgeries on indigent pa-tients in make-

shift operating tables.a world away from their home

in Jacksonville, Florida, that faces the Atlantic, Tim finds himself in a different playing field in the is-land of Mindanao that is nestled in the Pacific. “It is a much different ballgame,” he says. “There, i hear no roaring chants from fans rooting for a touchdown, but deafening si-lence as people desire to receive the words of Jesus that i preach about. i see none of those eyes of adula-tion when we win games, but eyes of faith of people searching for

Jesus who i talk about,” Tim relates. “You kind of find out from the get-go, what sets faith apart and what a game is just about.” With all his outstanding achievements in football, Tim will definitely emerge as the top NFl draft pick of his 2010 class as soon he steps out of college. But he has set his sight and his heart on other things, too—that little orphanage of more than fifty children in Mindanao that his father had founded. “Those kids make me more grounded and help me put things in proper perspective,” he says. “at the end of the day, what matters may not only be about scor-ing a touchdown, but also winning the future of those kids who do not get the opportunity to receive that touch of hope and love that you and i may have the means of giving.”

We salute you, Tim! Bless you and keep up the

good work!Go Broncos!

D E VEN Superman died in 1993. if even the man of steel could not escape death, do you agree that no man of

flesh can escape death too? Life happens! if he were not resur-rected, we would be short of a hero who could protect us from injustice and immorality. But for us mortals, we cannot count on resurrections, therefore how can we protect the people we leave behind? For financial protection, one tool we have is life insurance.

it is a great tool because the death benefits can be used for a lot of things. The most obvious use is to pay for the final expens-es, meaning, the burial, mortuary, flowers and food and other ex-penses before one is put to final rest. The final expenses can be from several thousands of dol-lars to tens of thousands. The last thing we want is to die with our family even worrying where to get the money to put you at peace. With life insurance, you will not have this worry.

For singles, the death ben-efits can also be used to settle all outstanding debts including the balance of the mortgage so that the beneficiary who inherits the house need not worry about the mortgage payments anymore.

For married couples, the pri-mary use of the death benefits is income replacement, or the money needed to run the heater, to keep the lights on, to pay the mortgage, to provide the food on the table, to fund the allowances and needs of the children, to re-mit the insurance premiums, to settle the current debt... and so on and so forth. Just imagine for a moment if you are a family that needs double income and sud-denly one of you is gone -- for-ever! life happens! Without life insurance, your family will have to adjust big time; your lifestyle will definitely be downgraded. But with life insurance, you will not have this worry.

What more if you are the sole provider! The absence of finan-cial protection would absolutely be devastating and cripple the family for a while until the sur-viving spouse can plug the hole. Until then, life insurance, if you have one, will be the economic umbrella to shelter the family from financial storm.

Though you will not escape death, you can escape tax. you read it right: you can escape tax. people say that you can’t escape death. That is true because you are guaranteed to die. The ques-tion is not ‘if’ you are, but ‘when’ you are dying; so death is guar-anteed. Because of this guaran-tee, life insurance is said to be the only insurance that is guaranteed to pay if you have the right cover-age. another thing people say that you can’t escape is tax. i disagree. When there is a rare moment Un-cle Sam is known to be gracious, it is the moment when the griev-ing beneficiaries normally receive the death benefit tax-free.

So far we have only talked about the death benefits. But tru-

Life Happens!By Joseph DoratanContributor: MBA, CFP®, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional

ly, while the insured is still alive, the policy owner can enjoy the tremendous benefits of the cash value tucked in the life insurance. For one, the buildup is not taxed as current income. No 1099s. No yearly iRS reporting. yet during the accumulation, the money put in for the savings and the gain can compound free of tax. albert Ein-stein was once quoted as saying, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.” i don’t know about you, but when someone as brilliant as Einstein would talk about the power of compounding, i would listen.

The liberal tax treatment can in fact regard life insurance to double as a retirement tool poten-tially more powerful than Roth iRa in several respects. First, al-though limited by your coverage, the yearly money put in for cash value has no absolute, iRS-dic-tated limit, like $5,000 for Roth iRa, or $6,000 if you are 50 or older. Second, if you make more than a certain income, you may not even contribute to a Roth. But you can buy a life insurance even if you are a billionaire. Third, cash value in insurance is more liquid than Roth iRa in that no age-related penalty rules exist for pulling money out of insurance.

Gain withdrawn is taxable but if money is accessed as a loan then it is tax free. No restric-tion exists too with regard to the money accessed. you can use it to retire, to fund college education, to travel around the world, to buy furniture or whatever.

Affluent people utilize life insurance for estate planning. Be-cause their estate is so large, they use the tool to provide liquidity to settle their huge estate tax. Others leverage it as wealth replacement strategies.

life insurance policies are very important business succes-sion tools for business owners. again, because life happens, if your business partner dies and you don’t want to do business with the spouse, life insurance can be used to buy out his share in the company. Or, the business can take out a policy for a key member of the company to com-pensate for the cost of training a successor and for the decreased ability to transact business when the key member passes away. Other businesses employ life in-surance policies as executive bo-nus plans.

While certainly there are other uses for such as a great wealth ac-cumulation and creation tool, its application normally revolves around life events. Typical life events can be marriage, having a baby, a new job, sending children to college, retirement, buying new house, owning a business, inheriting a windfall, disability or death. again, because life hap-pens, preparing and having such a tool is always great, but review-ing the coverage periodically can prove to be even more beneficial. if you need help on this tool, you can contact the contributor of this column through (909) 724-8618 or joseph@madeforu.biz.

People Saturday, January 21, 201218

PinoyWatchDog.Com

USINESS owners in LA County and Orange County kick started 2012 with their presence at networking events. New bonds were formed and relationships were rekindled in the business community. Jan. 13: The highly anticipated Asian-US Business Summit & Expo opened up with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Avalon Ball-room of Sheraton Fairplex Hotel in Pomona. A slew of notable guest speakers were on hand to share their business knowledge and expertise.

New Year, New Connections

Words and Pictures by Sarah Lei Spagnolo

B From left, MOHAMMED IS-LAM, guest, BOBBY

MCDONALD, GUY FOX, VICTOR PARKER, BEN LAI,

FRED LATUPERISSA, and RADI MIRANDA.

MOHAMMAD NOORZAY, promoting his company, TownZilla.com.

The summit emcee, TRACY RAFTER.

Filipino-American panelist MATTEO FERNANDEZ explains how business owners can benefit from doing business with the Philippines.

CONGRESSMAN JOE BACA (center) was one of the special guests at the summit.

also on Jan. 13, Bong prada lim celebrated his 50th birth-day in style at the Marriott Hotel in downtown los angeles surrounded by family, friends, and members of the Filipino community. The highlight of his golden birthday bash was a “roasting” segment for the birthday celebrant.

Jan. 18: pinoyWatchDog.com joined the Filipino-american chamber of commerce of Orange (FaccOc) Mixer and Membership Drive at the cozy posch Restaurant in irvine. conversation was abundant and the combination of sultry music, fine drinks, and delicious hors d’ouevres made for a very entertaining night.

DARLENE NICART (Navion Insurance Associates).

MIKE DISTOR and CHRISTIAN ROSARIO (MiH Marketing).

FELIX DE LEON (Murvay

Insurance) and JOEL BARETTO

(ING Financial Partners).

ARNEL DINO (FACCOC Past Secretary) and TRACY NGUYEN (VP NAAAP).

From left, ATTY. CHRISTOPHER ANDAL (FACCOC Past President/Marquart Law Group, RAY TUN-NELL, and ATTY. ANDREA SZEW.

MIKE PESTANO (FACCOC

Treasurer) and JUN JAO (Hays

Companies).

From left, TONY LAGMAN (Radio Filipino USA), NIMFA BLANDIN, and JAKE ROSARIO.

From left, SOPHIE LUPU

(Merrill Lynch), COLLEEEN

KELLY (Engel & Volkers Irvine),

and MAKI MASAKI (Noevir).

BONG PRADA LIM blows out birthday candles on his gigantic cake.

OME of the celebrities, like cher Rue in photo, arrived in exclusive state-of-the-art first re-sponder cars dedicated to the he-roes who lost their lives in 9/11.

The yearly event benefits the Children Hospital, Special Olympics, R.J. cottle Returning Heroes Veteran Fund, and fami-lies facing life altering disabilities.

Deputy christopher T. landavazo, president and founder of cops4causes, bared that in the previous year “166 offic-ers have been killed in action.” There is a need to honor their lives and the contribu-tion they have made, he added.

Bestowed visionary awards were Sher-iff lee Baca (laSD), chief charlie Beck

Cops awards, benefit concert - 3

(lapD), chief Jim McDonnell (long Beach p.D.), chief Mark yokoyama (al-hambra p.D.) and chief Edward Medrano (Gardena p.D.).

Evening performers included Tommy Davidson, the lopez Tonight Band, D.J. Ravi, Keaton Simons and Ray parker, Jr.

S

PinoyWatchDog.Com

Saturday, January 21, 2012

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