Hole of Justice: The LTFRB-6 -Franchise Mess

Hole of Justice: The LTFRB-6 -Franchise Mess: Hole of Justice By Peter Jimenea The LTFRB-6 - Franchise Mess The last week episode of the television program “Kape kag Isyu sa B...

Hole of Justice: The LTFRB-6 -Franchise Mess

Hole of Justice: The LTFRB-6 -Franchise Mess: Hole of Justice By Peter Jimenea The LTFRB-6 - Franchise Mess The last week episode of the television program “Kape kag Isyu sa B...

The LTFRB-6 -Franchise Mess

Hole of Justice

By Peter Jimenea

The LTFRB-6 - Franchise Mess

The last week episode of the television program “Kape kag Isyu sa Barangay,” dwelt on complaints of taxi drivers about the reprehensible grant of new taxi franchise in volume by LTFRB-6 RD Romulo Bernardez.

The drivers have been complaining on the approval of new franchise when there are already enough taxi units plying the city to serve the riding public. Additional taxi units would surely reduce their already meager income. Beside which, these are no longer necessary as what their claim hinted at.

I can still recall the Memorandum Order from the higher-ups of the LTFRB Head Office stopping the grant of new taxi franchise. On how the LTFRB-6 officials fixed the glitches of that MO to justify the new issuance of franchises, RD Bernardez has a lot of explaining to do!

The compounding problem in this drivers’ exasperation about the volume of new franchise approved by Dir. Bernardez, is a man named Pitong Yap. The drivers were told at the LTFRB office to wait until Mr. Yap learned of their complaint. But who is Pitong Yap? Isn’t he a taxi operator in the city? Well, Mr. Yap has yet to say about this.

But this reinforced the widespread public belief that something awry is happening inside the LTFRB regional office. The reason why the cost of new franchise for those in a hurry to operate a taxi, reached 80,000 pesos. But new application would not cost more than P5,000.

Funny indeed, when the order to stop the taxi franchise was received by RD Bernardez, he had already issued an undisclosed volume. So he flew to Manila for fear that the taxi operators will file a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the MEMO and put his turf in bad light.

Surprisingly, when he returned to Iloilo City, the MEMO was lifted and the issuance of new franchise stands. But why exempt only the LTFRB-6, when the Order is of national application? Taking all equities of this case into consideration, this is an exceedingly rare instance!

When the RD approved the new taxi franchise, it is widely believed that some taxi operators cornered the volume as reserved for future units. When the issuance stopped, they sell taxi franchise to the new applicants in a hurry - if the price is right. This creates an impression that wholesale of franchise by LTFRB director to operators was done in exchange for……  you know what!

The non-stop coming-in of reports about this LTFRB mess has made this case clear and understandable. The Head Office allowed the issuance of new taxi franchise provided, that operators must convert the fuel use of said vehicle from gasoline to liquefied petroleum gas or LPG.

No wonder, if there are now new taxi units roaming around the city with 2012 registry. But who are they kidding? Only fool taxi-operators will allow the conversion of their newly purchased cars to LPG as this will redound to certain engine malfunctions.

The Ombudsman-Visayas should start investigating this mess now as the space given to me is forum non conveniens – an inconvenient place for conducting judicial business. But I’m sure this case is good for the Court!

I believe LTFRB-6 should be investigated on why the law of national application has exempted only Region 6. How about the other regions who want to operate taxi units but were not allowed franchise due to the Head Office Order to stop? What makes Region 6 so special?

This is not what we think LTFRB-6 business is all about. But its director and some taxi operators are now suspects as a new syndicate we have to deal with. I am inviting them though, to air their side on this issue. As the law says; “audi alteram partem” – no man shall be condemned unheard. (Posadas vs. CA, 56 SCRA 619).

Well, I hope to have made your day in this column. You asked for it. Unlike the Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol and me…… who ask others to make our day!

Hole of Justice: The New PNP Recruits

Hole of Justice: The New PNP Recruits: Hole of Justice By Peter G. Jimenea   The PNP New Recruits The announcement of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) at the pr...

The New PNP Recruits

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea
 
The PNP New Recruits

The announcement of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) at the program Kape kag Isyu re; acceptance of application for police service is what got the jobless college graduates so excited about. To be a PNP member is already a secured job.

This space had been PNP friendly and we are disturbed by reports of suspension and dismissal of many new members of the police for stepping over-the-line of pardonable behavior. In most cases, it is caused by pomposity in displaying the PNP uniform they are so proud of.

A personal experience at PNP checkpoints compelled me to write again about this police misbehavior. The cases I filed against a Senior Police Inspector and a PO1, gave them a good lesson for acting ultra vires or beyond the scope of their authority.

I recall the driving of a motorcycle by my son with only a temporary operator’s permit (TOP). He was stopped at the checkpoint and told by a police officer-in-charge to look for one with a driver’s license to get the impounded vehicle.

When I went to the checkpoint, a PO1 asked for my driver’s license claiming it is in exchange for the freedom of my son whom they allegedly let go. I resisted but under duress, I was forced to give in to their demand.  The OIC ordered him to issue a TOP against me for a new traffic violation I have never heard before, “Disregarding!”

Sus gino-o, they are already in the pot but jumped into the fire. I settled the fine on the very next day with “payment under protest” written on the xerox copy of my TOP. Mind you, but that note alone has put the irresponsible police officers from Precinct 4 in the brink of insanity!

The new PNP members should know that the Bill of Rights is the bedrock of the Constitutional government. Thus, the act of two police officers in arresting Juan for the crime of Pedro is a concept of justice at odds with due process. If people are stripped naked of their rights as human beings, democracy cannot survive and government becomes meaningless!

There are also reported cases of police brutality in handling arrested suspects. Suspects are still subject to investigation. If there is probable cause, the filing of cases, then arraignment. But even if they are already the accused, they’re still innocent, not yet guilty, until proven beyond reasonable doubt.

This is not what we think police business is all about. New PNP members must study more about the different aspects of law-enforcement in adherence with the rule of law. Jurisprudence reminds them too that; “extreme enforcement of law may lead to injustice.” (Berico vs. CA, 225 SCRA 562).

This story explains why the Bill of Rights contained in ART. III of the Constitution occupies a position of primacy to the fundamental law way above the articles on government powers. Discipline is imperative for all PNP members especially the new ones who are most prone to unwanted consequences!

The PNP indeed is between us and crime. Let us not shame this institution with bad jokes like; “Once people in trouble turn to the police. Today, they will be in more trouble if they run to the police.” The PNP hierarchy had been cleaning-up their ranks of scalawags to restore public trust in the police service, so let’s give them more space.

New PNP members should know that the Court values liberty and will always insist on the observance of basic Constitutional Rights as a condition sine qua non against the awesome investigative and prosecutorial powers of people in the government. I’m sure PRO6 RD, C/Supt. Agrimeo Cruz subscribes to this and will help bring my message to the hearts of his men!

Payback Time

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. jimenea

Payback Time

Barring unforeseen circumstances, former DOJ Sec. Raul M. Gonzalez will be the guest of “Kape kag isyu,” this coming Saturday, August 18 at Hotel Del Rio, iloilo City. Yours truly hosts this TV talk-show aired live over Sky Cable TV every Saturday morning from 9:30 to 11:30.

The program is co-hosted by two prominent city lawyers, Atty. Teofisto “Pet” Melliza and Atty. Dwight Trasadas. The latter is one of the many aspirants for city councilor this coming elections. We hope Junior, the son of Sec. Gonzalez who is rumored to run again for Congress would also be guesting.

Raul Gonzalez, Jr. has no record of corruption ever since he entered politics as a city councilor of Iloilo City. When in Congress, his program for hospital and medical assistance to the poor is lauded by constituents. His is far different from that of the present system used by  Cong. Jerry Trenas.

He is also a silent performer with number of sponsored Bills in Congress which are now laws but he never bragged of the accomplishment. It is not however, a cause for alarm of Cong. Trenas who is over-prepared for the battle in 2013. The Iloilo City Housing Project Scandal in Pavia is what he feared most! 

This is the most delicate issue that can pull down his political future. The issue that hounds him for years is now in the hands of the Ombudsman. His luck of always getting off the hook easily is now waning. See the article of Miss Florence Hibionada in The Daily Guardian Newspaper issue of August 12, 2012.

Former Cong. Raul Gonzalez, Jr. and incumbent Cong. Trenas are both lawyers but I’m uncertain if they differ in understanding of the Code of Professional Responsibility. Canon 1  – “A lawyer shall uphold the Constitution, obeys the laws of the land and promote respect for law for legal processes.”

in Rule 1.01 - “A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful conduct.” But the P137M Iloilo City Housing Project for the 413 units of low-cost houses for the City Hall employees that started in 2001, ended in 2009 without even a unit standing and completed. It was Mayor Trenas who implemented this project.

The case filed against Mayor (now Cong.) Trenas et al, slept with the Office of the Ombudsman for almost eight years. Still, to date, after that investigation-in-eternity, no probable cause had been found to indict Mayor Trenas. Worse, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro ordered a further probing of his case. Evil it can only be!

His Resolution submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visyas is tainted with grave abuse of discretion. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales should know about this mess of Monalisa’s stooges. True, anyone accused of involvement in corruption can be expected to put up a strong defense – but not on this buying his way out of indictment!

No probable cause against then Mayor Trenas? The unauthorized payment of the mayor to the contractor is already embraced in RA 3019. Probable cause needs only to rest on evidence showing that most likely than not, a crime had been committed and there was enough reason to believe that it was committed by the suspect.

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Casimiro should go back to his law school and study more about Probable Cause. This needs not be based on clear- convincing evidence of guilt, neither on evidence establishing absolute certainty of guilt. It merely binds over the suspects to stand trial, not a pronouncement of guilt. What can you say about that, ODO Casimiro?

If you find no probable cause to indict Mayor now Cong. Trenas, what caused you to delay the dismissal of his case? Well, if you do not understand what you are doing, resign. Remember, qui peccat ebrius, luat sobrius-he who offends when drunk shall be punished when sober. And payback time is near!

Hole of Justice: RH Bill - A Destiny

Hole of Justice: RH Bill - A Destiny: Hole of Justice by Peter G. Jimenea Excommunicate Me! In August 1969, Jerome Lejeune, a French doctor and world-renowned expert in h...

RH Bill - A Destiny

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea


Excommunicate Me!

In August 1969, Jerome Lejeune, a French doctor and world-renowned expert in human genetics was awarded by the American Society of  Human Genetics the William Allen Memorial Award, the highest distinction that can be granted to a geneticist

It is credited to his major work on “mongolism” in 1959, a condition that affects one in every six hundred fifty children called “Down Syndrome.” Learning about this discovery, thousands of families from all over the world with kids suffering from Down Syndrome come to him for treatment.

He helped them to understand and accept the kids created from God’s image that despite their serious mental handicap, they overflow with love and affection. Unfortunately, the American medical establishment at that time has the tendency to resort to abortion to prevent affected babies from being born.

The pretext was that it is cruel and inhuman to allow these poor creatures to come into the world. Great Britain followed the lead of the United States which had legalized screening for Down’s syndrome and its “treatment” by abortion. The media battle in France extended to the abortion of “unwanted children.”

These countries are sharing the theory that “A baby does not legally become a person until it is born. The woman has also the right to do what she wants with her body.” It was molded under the pretext of scientific rigor, a point of view in which God has no place.

The good they say is that although it does not conform to the Law of God, it is efficient.  The bad is that which interferes with material progress. For them, the mongoloid is no longer a person created from the image of God to see and love  Him for all eternity.

The embryo is a living thing in its early development formed by the inter-action of the male’s sperm inside the woman’s womb through harmonious relationship or in some cases, by-forced sexual intercourse. Contraceptives and condom can prevent its development.

But what is to argue with the passage of RH Bill? People had long been using oral contraceptives and condoms. They merely prevent the development of embryo in a woman’s womb by disallowing the man’s egg which may penetrate to form as such. This belies abortion as what the opposition’s earlier claim hinted at.

If we consider the Constitutional doctrine in the separation of the Church and the State, this RH Bill deals more on the latter’s problem for the welfare of its citizens. Other than the widening economic disparity between the rich and the poor, this is a primary concern of women.

The scenario in the pedia-ward of public hospitals in this country bleeds out hearts. The numbers of sick and dying infants are counting. The church-led opposition should ask from the government free or affordable and accessible health services for the poor families rather than to consent on their production of unwanted kids.

And we have yet to know about the unreported cases in slum areas. Presuming that these unwanted children of poor families survived, what good promise of tomorrow awaits them in the future? Now you know why I am for the RH Bill. If Church leaders resent this then …… see the title!

RH Bill - A Destiny

Hole of Justice

by Peter G. Jimenea

Excommunicate Me!

In August 1969, Jerome Lejeune, a French doctor and world-renowned expert in human genetics was awarded by the American Society of  Human Genetics the William Allen Memorial Award, the highest distinction that can be granted to a geneticist

It is credited to his major work on “mongolism” in 1959, a condition that affects one in every six hundred fifty children called “Down Syndrome.” Learning about this discovery, thousands of families from all over the world with kids suffering from Down Syndrome come to him for treatment.

He helped them to understand and accept the kids created from God’s image that despite their serious mental handicap, they overflow with love and affection. Unfortunately, the American medical establishment at that time has the tendency to resort to abortion to prevent affected babies from being born.

The pretext was that it is cruel and inhuman to allow these poor creatures to come into the world. Great Britain followed the lead of the United States which had legalized screening for Down’s syndrome and its “treatment” by abortion. The media battle in France extended to the abortion of “unwanted children.”

These countries are sharing the theory that “A baby does not legally become a person until it is born. The woman has also the right to do what she wants with her body.” It was molded under the pretext of scientific rigor, a point of view in which God has no place.

The good they say is that although it does not conform to the Law of God, it is efficient.  The bad is that which interferes with material progress. For them, the mongoloid is no longer a person created from the image of God to see and love  Him for all eternity.

The embryo is a living thing in its early development formed by the inter-action of the male’s sperm inside the woman’s womb through harmonious relationship or in some cases, by-forced sexual intercourse. Contraceptives and condom can prevent its development.

.

But what is to argue with the passage of RH Bill? People had long been using oral contraceptives and condoms. They merely prevent the development of embryo in a woman’s womb by disallowing the man’s egg which may penetrate to form as such. This belies abortion as what the opposition’s earlier claim hinted at.

If we consider the Constitutional doctrine in the separation of the Church and the State, this RH Bill deals more on the latter’s problem for the welfare of its citizens. Other than the widening economic disparity between the rich and the poor, this is a primary concern of women.

The scenario in the pedia-ward of public hospitals in this country bleeds out hearts. The numbers of sick and dying infants are counting. The church-led opposition should ask from the government free or affordable and accessible health services for the poor families rather than to consent on their production of unwanted kids.

And we have yet to know about the unreported cases in slum areas. Presuming that these unwanted children of poor families survived, what good promise of tomorrow awaits them in the future? Now you know why I am for the RH Bill. If Church leaders resent this then …… see the title!