No Bank Run | view image
Despite the very public boardroom squabbles at Equitable PCI Bank, depositors kept most of their money with the bank.
In the week before fireworks erupted at the July 19 annual stockholders meeting, a NEWSBREAK source said depositors withdrew only about P800 million as public tirades intensified between the Go family and the alliance of the pension funds, SSS and GSIS, with other minority stockholders. Up to the day the Go family finally gave up their hold on the bank and sold their stakes to the Sy family, withdrawals attributed to the squabble reached only P1.8 billion.
Given this bank's checkered past, that's cheap. It wasn't long ago when the bank was hit by massive withdrawals that had them scrambling first to other banks for almost P20 billion in short-term loans, then to the Bangko Sentral for emergency loans totaling about P30 billion. Then management went on a full-blast campaign afterwards to woo those depositors back. Mostly Chinese, these depositors were turned off when Clarissa Ocampo, a bank executive, testified in the impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada that she was present when he signed a fictitious name to open an account, thus breaking the secrecy code between banks and clients.
What does this tell us about Chinese depositors? Perhaps that they don't care if stockholders of their bank fight their personal battles, as long as they don't mess with the depositors' secret accounts.
Midnight Appointments | view image
By the time you read this, Gen. Efren Abu would have retired as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He leaves behind a military that's factionalized, more politicized, and perhaps more unwilling to undertake bold reforms.
Of course, Abu and his loyalists in the military would be the first to protest this verdict. After all, wasn't he the one who called for the abolition of the comptrollership office in the AFP in the aftermath of the plunder charges against ex-military comptroller Carlos Garcia? Wasn't Abu the one who abolished the corrupt-ridden AFP Logistics Command? And wasn't he the one who pushed for directing more resources to the field, cutting the headquarters budget?
Ah, but he's also the one, we heard, who pushed for the midnight appointment of his favorite officers to juicy posts weeks before his scheduled retirement. For example, he suggested that a favorite colonel, though inept, be given a brigade. Abu also recommended a Philippine Military Academy classmate to be promoted to a two-star position, even if the classmate's performance was less than stellar. Then he also recommended the promotion of a general to division commander, over senior, more qualified generals.
Last we heard, the defense department has put on hold the promotion of these officers.
Death Threat | view image
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police released this sketch of the man who ordered a funeral wreath for NEWSBREAK managing editor Glenda M. Gloria. Based on accounts of witnesses, the man stands 5'6" or 5'7" tall, speaks Ilonggo, is between 35 and 40 years old, and of medium build.
The wreath was bought from a flower shop on Araneta Avenue and was delivered to the family residence of Ms. Gloria in Quezon City. The death threat was received on the night of August 2.
The death threat seems to be one of a number of moves against NEWSBREAK. On August 3, a day after the threat, an agency which solicits ads for NEWSBREAK received two telephone calls from a man warning them not to "help NEWSBREAK" because a lot of people were angry with this magazine.
Days before, on July 28, a newspaper column came up with a blind item discrediting a "hard-hitting magazine," apparently referring to NEWSBREAK. The next day, another newspaper ran a column attacking us for unfounded reasons; this was followed by another column on August 12.
Where could these be coming from?
Speaking of Horses
What's the relevance of horses to the impeachment proceedings against President Arroyo? Ask the Bicolano congressmen.
Arguing in favor of the majority view that the justice committee must first resolve which complaint should be taken up before deciding on form and substance, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte compared the issue to a horse race. Before the race could start, Villafuerte argued, one must first determine which horse is qualified to join.
Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero refuted Villafuerte's arguments. It wasn't right, he said, to compare the impeachment proceedings to a horse race. It can't be called a race, he pointed out, if there's only one horse competing.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who propounded the so-called "prejudicial questions" which led to discussions over which complaint the committee should tackle, added the final touch. He said it was "not in accordance with the rules" to go straight to the determination of form and substance. Misquoting an idiom, he said it was like "putting the horse before the cart."
Threat of a Signature | view image
Will former Samar congressman Eduardo Nachura be the next education secretary?
Nachura and his partymates in the Liberal Party thought he had the position in the bag. After all, his strongest backer is Mayor Lito Atienza, one of the staunchest supporters of the President.
But we heard that Nachura's political rival in Samar, Rep. Catalino Figueroa, protested the impending designation. Figueroa told one of the President's advisers that, yes, the President can go ahead and appoint Nachura to the education department but—and here's the big but—she shouldn't be surprised if Figueroa signs the impeachment complaint against her.
And that's just one signature.
Abalos for Senator? | view image
The buzz is that Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos has plans to run for the Senate in 2007 and may retire earlier than the end of his term. We're not sure whether this is his way of making a graceful exit from the much-tainted Comelec or if he's really keen on going back to politics.
If Abalos runs for the Senate, it looks like a conflict of interest case here. Being a Comelec insider gives him an undue advantage. And the fact that he presided over one of the dirtiest elections in recent history makes him suspect.
Well, let's see if there will still be a Senate in 2007. If the Charter change advocates have their way, we may have a unicameral parliament by next year. But then, Abalos can run as representative of Mandaluyong, the city he served as mayor for nine years.
Mike's Bloopers | view image
Environment Secretary Michael Defensor's attempts at destroying the credibility of the "Hello, Garci" tapes as evidence against President Arroyo have themselves been riddled with bloopers.
First, the secretary kept referring to an audio expert called "Dick Barry." Much later, during the press conference, he corrected himself and identified the audio expert as Barry Dickey.
Then, he claimed that the words "'yung dagdag, 'yung dagdag (the addition, the addition)" that were mentioned by President Arroyo during her conversation with Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano were merely inserted to replace the words "Galban" and "Binalbag." Jonathan Tiongco, one of the "experts" Defensor presented, claimed that "Galban" and "Binalbag," when speeded up, would sound like "dagdag."
Defensor would not elaborate on why "Galban" and "Binalbag" figured in the middle of a conversation on Namfrel copies and municipal certificates of canvass. He feebly explained that Binalbag is a town in Lanao del Sur. Again the secretary is mistaken. The only town in Lanao del Sur whose name sounds nearest to Binalbag is Balabagan. There is a Binalbagan town, though, in Negros Occidental. (In its blog, the PCIJ says there is a barangay called Binalbag in Agdangan, Quezon Province though, while Galvan is a barangay in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.)
At any rate, audio engineer Jim Sarthou, the least talkative of the "experts" presented by Defensor at Friday's press conference, said on television on Saturday that, "'Yung dagdag, baligtarin mo, bagalan mo...ang dinig ko dagdag pa rin (however you put it, it's still dagdag)" Sarthou claimed that he had been tricked into attending Defensor's press conference.
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