By Raissa Robles

I was toying with the idea of seeing Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as President for the last time today before she morphed into a congresswoman.

She suddenly sent this blanket invite yesterday to members of the foreign press to see her launch two books on her presidency this noontime.

I received this digital invitation from the presidential palace - raissarobles.com

Unfortunately, my newspaper does not usually do spot news stories from the
Philippines – meaning, the who, when, where, what, why and how kind-of-news.  It
is more into analysis, features, profiles and trends stories.

Still, seeing Mrs Arroyo for the last time inside historic Malacanang Palace might be worth the time, effort and money, I thought.

Until I thought of checking whether at least for the last time, tape recorders and candid picture-taking would be allowed.

I guess I was hoping for far too much.

I was told by a chirpy sounding girl named Anna that only officially accredited photographers could click away. And tape recorders were barred.

So I decided to watch the show on government TV station 4 instead.

I’ll just wait for her in Congress where I can click away and record away her political transformation.

Exclusive

By Raissa Robles

“I won’t trade my principles, friends and family to rise up.”

- Jesse Robredo

When I interviewed Jesse Robredo he impressed me because he made me pay for the lunch.

Robredo (left) Photo by Ellen Tuyay

When I interviewed Jojo Binay he made me laugh when he jokingly showed me the secret bedroom inside the office of the City Mayor of Makati.

I know it sounds weird about the lunch but let me explain. In 1999, Asiaweek magazine assigned me to do a piece to find out why Naga City was bucking the age-old trend of negative growth in the poverty stricken, NPA-infested Bikol Region.

Politicians are usually impressed when they are interviewed for a foreign publication and they go out of their way to impress by paying for a lavish meal in a fancy hotel.

Not Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo. He chose to meet me at SM Megamall, came
without a bodyguard, picked a medium-budget restaurant and at the end, made no
move to pick up the tab. I liked that because I knew that if he had paid for it, you and I would have ended up paying for it through our taxes.

Then I went to Naga City and tried to balance the piece by interviewing the leftist Bayan. Robredo’s accomplishments, though, still caught the attention of those in charge of handing  out the Ramon Magsaysay Awards – Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The following year, Asiaweek again asked me to interview Robredo for a profile. At the time of the interview, neither of us knew that the piece was intended to announce his win as the Ramon Magsaysay awardee for government service.

Before I share with you these two pieces, I’d like to compare both Jesse Robredo and Jejomar Binay who are both vying for the position of Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).

Binay and Robredo have 2 opposing approaches to governance and transparency

Both are eminently qualified for the post. But they represent two contrasting – even opposite – approaches to transparency and governance.

Mayor Jojo Binay has transformed Makati into a fine welfare state. The poor who comprise the majority would probably die for Binay, who has doled out to them free services. One social worker of a foreign NGO, who has lived in Makati for nearly as long as Binay was mayor there, told me for instance that under Binay, Makati’s public schools look like private schools and all the students are given free books.

But Mayor Binay runs Makati like “an urban warlord,” another journalist told me.

In contrast, Mayor Robredo’s approach in Naga City is to include residents in governance. He persuaded the City Council early on to pass an Empowerment Ordinance that allowed citizen representation in various city government committees. I have included my Asiaweek articles below to explain this.

But before you jump to that, let me add something else.

The Makati City website is not transparent

Binay is not much for transparency. Look at the Makati City website. It razzle-dazzles you but nowhere can you find a comprehensive statement of income.

Makati City website does NOT CONTAIN the city's income and expenses - raissarobles.com

Nor get an idea of its yearly expenses. Tell me if you can find it because I couldn’t.

In other words, you do not really know how much income one of the country’s richest cities is getting and how much it is really spending.

There are no figures for 2008 and 2009.

This is all that I found: In 2007, Makati earned P6.9 billion revenues. Half of that came from business taxes (P3.2 billion) and only P1.6 billion pesos from real property tax despite the stupendous number of office buildings and mansions there.

I copied this from the Makati City website - raissarobles.com

What about expenses? For the same year 2007 Makati spent P9.39 billion. In other words it spent P3 billion more than it earned that year.

I copied this from Makati City website - raissarobles.com

In fact from 2004 to 2007, Makati spent more than it earned. But it doesn’t say how it filled the gap in those four years.

In contrast, go to the Naga City website.  It’s simple. Easy to navigate.

Naga City website contains the city's income and expenses - raissarobles.com

You can easily download a complete statement of income for 2008 and 2009. Here’s the 2009 income statement. It is very detailed.

Naga City 2009 income

Continuation - Naga income

Continuation - Naga City 2009 income

Naga City has no consolidated statement of expenses but you can easily find out how it has spent on various items.

And this is what I like – you find not only the bid notices online, but even THE RESULTS OF THE WINNING BIDS.

Naga City even shows bid results

If Jesse Robredo can require every province, every city and town – including Makati – to be this transparent, then ordinary citizens can monitor any attempt at corruption better.

Robredo’s name has never been tainted by any corruption scandal.

In contrast, Binay has been the subject of an investigative report by Miriam Grace Go of Newsbreak entitled “The Lord of Makati: Can Binay explain his wealth?”. It won first prize in the 2002 Jaime Ongpin Award for investigative journalism. Newsbreak’s Maritess Vitug gave me permission to post it. Click on this link to read.

Still, Robredo has to ask himself some hard questions

The post of DILG would require him to skip lunch with his family – a ritual he has been able to maintain as mayor of Naga. Can he do that?

As head of the DILG. he also assumes the post of chairman and presiding officer of the National Police Commission, which exercises administrative control over the entire police force. Can he be tough enough for this? Knowing that one of his predecessors, Col. Jaime Ferrer, was assassinated while doing this job? (I was covering Ferrer when he was gunned down.)

Finally, the post would require him to be the government and the Liberal Party’s eyes and ears in the countryside and control the grassroots state network – the same one that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo mobilized to try to amend the Constitution. Can he stomach the wheeling and dealing that goes with that?

Shortly before President Noynoy launched his presidential bid I was able to have a chat with Robredo. I asked him why he had not run for Congress, which he told me years ago was part of his plan for when his children reached college age.

“Plans change,” he said.

Now plans have changed again for him. Will he now accept a bigger challenge?

Below is my Asiaweek 1999 report on Naga City and Jesse Robredo:

Asiaweek magazine assigned me to write this piece as part of the "Best Cities in Asia" series - raissarobles.com

Second part of my Asiaweek write-up - raissarobles.com

Third part of my Asiaweek "Best Cities in Asia" writeup - raissarobles.com

Fourth part of my Asiaweek writeup for "Best Cities in Asia" series - raissarobles.com

Below is my 2000 writeup on Jesse Robredo where Asiaweek announces him as a Ramon Magsaysay awardee:

Asiaweek assigned me to interview Jesse Robredo again without telling me it was meant to announce his win in the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Awards for public service

Part 2 of my writeup to announce Robredo as the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for public service

Part 3 of my writeup to announce Robredo as the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for public service

By Raissa Robles

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today issued Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff General Delfin Bangit a “temporary” appointment,  along with 301 other military officers whose promotions  were “bypassed” last Friday by the Commission on Appointments.

Click on  this link to read.

In case the article from the state-run Philippine News Agency has disappeared, I am posting the text below:

The Official Government Portal of the Republic of the Philippines

PGMA approves temporary stay of Bangit, 301 other AFP officers on their posts –
Mendoza
Monday, 07 June 2010
PGMA approves temporary stay of Bangit, 301 other AFP officers on their posts — MendozaMANILA, June 7 (PNA)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved the recommendation of Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales to allow 302 senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including chief of staff Gen. Delfin Bangit, to stay on their respective posts after their confirmation was technically bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA) when the 14th Congress adjourned sine die last Friday.

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said on Monday the President approved Gonzales’ recommendation “to avoid prejudice to public service or endanger the public safety.”

“Failure to act decisively on the matter could have led to serious demoralization in the AFP Officer Corps, and undermine the integrity of the military’s command structure,” Mendoza added.

Affected by the CA bypass were General Bangit and 301 other senior officers of the AFP who hold the ranks of general, lieutenant general, major general/rear admiral, brigadier general/commodore and colonel/captain (Philippine Navy) as of June 5.
Mendoza, who himself is a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) — the other half of the national uniformed service — stressed that the military should be insulated from partisan politics, hence appointments to sensitive military positions should be left to the discretion and sound judgment of the command hierarchy.

Promotions in the military are determined by the various boards that screen applicants for their seniority, merit and performance.

Officers with the rank of full colonel and up, however, are still subject to CA confirmation.

As one of the pillars of democracy, Mendoza said, shielding the military establishment from political influence “would ensure stability of the command, and instill discipline and high morale among the men and women in uniform.”

Among the 302 senior officers bypassed by the CA were one general, three lieutenant generals, 10 major generals, one rear admiral, 35 brigadier generals, five commodores, with the rest being colonels and captains.
On Sunday, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who is also the chairman of the Appointments Commission, said that President Arroyo could extend the term of Bangit and those who would question it should go to the Supreme Court.

Enrile also said apparent President-elect Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy”  Aquino III could retain General Bangit as the AFP chief until his retirement by the end of this year. (PNA)

General Bangit today issued an emotional appeal and claimed there were “attempts to destroy”  the military.

In a press conference he said that instead of resigning,

I therefore decided that I should go if that is what will keep the Armed Forces intact. Yesterday, instead of doing that, I decided to fight for the institution because I feel that everytime they are hurting me, they are hurting our institution. I came to realize that it is no longer me, this is no longer just about General Bangit, whom they doubt despite contrary evidence.

No one is asking you to resign, General. Your appointment simply lapsed.No one is trying to destroy the military. Rather this is a demonstration of the supremacy of the civilian leadership – as exercised by the congressional Commission on  Appointments, over the military.

And  the person who appointed you recognized that by approving your temporary stay today – by issuing you another appointment.

This time that appointment will lapse on June 30. It will be unfair for you to put the blame and the burden of reappointing you for the THIRD TIME on the new president, because the blame is all with your benefactor, Arroyo. She  did a “deep selection”  of you so that you could become her military chief.

Just as Arroyo insisted she had the presidential prerogative to choose you, her successor also has the same prerogative to choose whom he pleases, don’t you think?

But wait a minute,  did Norberto Gonzales have the power to recommend such a move considering that his own appointment had lapsed?

And did President Arroyo also issue new appointments to her 14 cabinet secretaries?

By Raissa Robles

The Bald Guy from Smartmatic talks to FOCAP PHOTO BY Raissa Robles

Suddenly, so many politicians are claiming they were approached by men offering to “fix” their victory for a hefty fee.

These politicians said the scheme described by the alleged whistleblower, Robin the Koala Bear, was the same one offered to them months ago by cheating operators.

Which makes me suspect that either cheating really happened on a massive scale or there is a grand plot to piss and shit on what appears to be a massive election victory of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s former student-turned-political nemesis, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

Listening to these politicians who all blamed their defeat on this massive fraud, I remembered videotaping “the Bald Guy” whom fraidy-cat top officials of Smartmatic sent to brief us in their stead last February.

What “Bald Guy” Miguel Avila told the Foreign Correspondents Association of
the Philippines (FOCAP) could countercheck the following:

• How fraud-proof is the Smartmatic system?
• Did this band of roving Koala Bears and Boys really succeed in hacking into Smartmatic’s automation system?
• If they did, are they in cahoots with anyone inside Smartmatic or the
  Commission on Elections?

Or are the Koala Boys really part of a Malacañang-backed special “Operation Piss Pot“?

The problem in seeking out the truth is that the Venezuelan poll automation peddler Smartmatic is as transparent as the smoky-colored bullet-proof glass that encases all the windows of the presidential palace.

When FOCAP requested a briefing from Smartmatic and the Commission on Elections last February, Comelec sent NO ONE, not even James Jimenez. Smartmatic top officials were SUDDENLY UNAVAILABLE. They sent The Bald Guy instead.

“I’m just the bald guy,” sniffed Miguel Avila when I asked him why he and not a top Smartmatic official was present. Avila said he was the “demonstrations and presentations coordinator.” In short, the guy who “sells” the the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machine to his fellow  Filipinos.

Avila got a thorough roasting from the foreign correspondents, some of them as pissed off as me (because I had to take a cab ride to the MRT, the MRT to Makati, then walk from MRT station to Swiss Inn on Makati Avenue lugging heavy gear) so I could listen directly to Smartmatic top honchos.

Bald guy Avila did keep his cool throughout and told us some things that can now be used to counter-check what the Koala Bears and Boys have been telling their gullible victims.

Now you might wonder why I’m posting the bald guy’s videos only now. Believe me, I tried posting on Youtube for months but my PLDT DSL just would not let me. Finally fed up, I asked help from Mon Isberto of Smart-PLDT, an old colleague in Business Day newspaper. Mon sent over technicians and now I can post on Youtube part of the time, thanks to Mon.

Bald Guy explains new canvassing system

I managed to capture Avila on video explaining to us the difference between the old manual canvassing system and the automated canvassing system. Click on the video below:

Briefly, he described the old “ladderized” process:

1. The ballots are counted and tallied by hand and the summary of votes are then
   brought physically to the municipal board of canvass
2. The municipal board of canvassers then tallies  the votes from the various
   precincts and writes by hand the summary of  votes per candidate and a
   statement of votes, which are then brought physically to the provincial board of
   canvassers
3. The same thing is done by the provincial board of canvassers for the national
   candidates and the results are physically brought to the Comelec and Congress.

But under the poll automation system:

• Results from each precinct are tallied by each Precinct Count Optical
  Scan (PCOS) machine
• Each PCOS machine then  electronically transmits the results “in bursts” to the
  following:

1. A server of the municipal or city board of canvass of the town or city where
   the precinct is located
2. A server at the Pope Pius Center in Manila shared by the the media (KBP) citizens poll watchdog PPCRV, dominant political majority party (LAKAS) and dominant minority (Liberal Party)
3. The Comelec central server (which also acts as the backup server).  What Comelec’s central server receives would also be posted on a website (later unveiled as ibanangayon.ph).

But is there a digital and physical trail?

But foreign correspondents are highly skeptical creatures. So Oliver Teves of Associated Press (AP) made Avila clarify what kind of trail – digital and concrete – would the automation process leave.

Here’s what the bald guy of Smartmatic said in the video:

Briefly, Avila said each PCOS would print eight copies initially BEFORE transmitting anything. Then transmit. Then print 22 more copies.

One of the copies printed before transmitting would go to PPCRV.  Another copy
printed AFTER transmitting would also go to PPCRV.

At that time of Avila’s briefing, I did not understand why PPCRV had to get TWO copies of the same election return – one before and one after transmitting.

After Koala Bear came out, I understood why. Koala Bear claimed they had hacked into the system and transmitted to the municipal board of canvass using fake PCOS machines. It was as easy as pushing a button, he said.

Koala Bear merely said they were able to transmit the fake votes to the municipal board of canvass. But he never said they transmitted anything to Pope Pius and the Comelec backup server. So that can be checked whether the election returns printed BEFORE transmission through PCOS tallied with what were transmitted to the municipal boards of  canvass.

Koala Bear also bragged that in some instances they got into the system by transmitting to the municipal server just seconds BEFORE a real precinct PCOS transmitted. But again, how did they change the printed election returns that PPCRV and the other political parties physically obtained BEFORE any transmission took place?

Koala Bear never did  mention anything about that.

PPCRV was also supposed to get the 22nd copy printed AFTER the transmission. It did not say whether they managed to. I know for a fact that one of their volunteers was trying to surrender these 22nd copies to the PPCRV but the latter declined to take them.

System hacking alert in place?

Bald Guy Avila said the Smartmatic system was built to “flag” any unauthorized
intrusion or hacking. So of course Tress Martelino of Japanese news agency Nikkei
had to ask whether Smartmatic would actually see any anomalies taking place
during the presidential polls and be able to announce that such anomalies did
take place. Here’s the video on that:

Being a middle-ranking officer, Avila declined to answer. Shouldn’t Cesar Flores of Smartmatic now answer that same question? And Tress’ inevitable follow-up question – how many incidents did they flag before, during and after the May 10 polls?

Smartmatic system hard to hack from the outside?

Bald Guy Avila also impressed on us, skeptical media, that it was very, very hard for anyone outside to hack into their system. Here’s the video of him explaining this:

But how about hacking from the inside?

One thing I wanted to ask Smartmatic’s Cesar Flores about was their handling of the 2008 polls  in the ARMM (Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao). There,  Smartmatic
actually  “tweaked” votes in certain ARMM precincts from its central server in Metro Manila.

Could they do the same with the 2010 presidential polls?,  I asked Avila.

Here’s the video of his reply:

When I asked him if someone from inside Smartmatic or Comelec could pad the
votes, he said yes, but quickly added that of course Smartmatic would not do it
because it wants to land more business.

Do you buy that argument?

In the same way that the late US President Richard Nixon once waltzed with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos?

This waltz, which culminated in Marcos’ declaration of martial law, is detailed in the once top secret but now declassified presidential papers of Nixon.

Why rake up events of almost 40 years ago? Because those events are uncannily repeating themselves again today, such as the stubborn moves to change the constitution, the threat to impose martial law, and the bombings in Metro Manila.

And because the US government continues to act to this day as an overlord or superior of the Philippine government. Here’s proof. Remember last year when the Philippine government was about to sign the controversial MOA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year?

The US Ambassador, Kristie Kenney, was there to witness the signing which was scuttled by the Supreme Court.

We can reasonably assume her government got an advance copy of the MOA-AD – which hands over territory to the rebels along with vast powers – whereas the entire nation was kept in the dark about its contents.

I skipped the invite to cover US State Secretary Hillary Clinton’s lightning visit to Manila yesterday because all the action will happen behind closed doors. And we will know what really took place maybe 30 years from now when the top secret report on her “intimate” talk with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is declassified.

(more…)