NFA and GSIS next?

Written by Rey O. Arcilla | 11 August 2011

'How come no cases have up to now been filed against the management of both agencies for acts committed during the Arroyo regime?'

ON top of the list of reminders (for President Noynoy Aquino's action) which I have made a regular feature of this column, is the anomalous rice importation by the National Food Administration (NFA) during the evil Arroyo regime.

No less than Noynoy himself said there is documentary evidence to prove the corruption at that time in that agency. On two subsequent important occasions, he again mentioned the anomaly.

Yet, to this day, no charges have been filed against the alleged perpetrators of the anomaly. How come? In the meantime, certain quarters are now alleging that corruption continues to exist in the NFA. Your bosses, Mr. President, want to know the real score.

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Nearly 300 government agencies, mostly local government units (LGUs) face sanctions by the GSIS for alleged non-remittance of premium payments by their employees, some since 1997, to the state pension fund.

If memory serves, it was at about that time when many members started complaining about non-posting by the GSIS of premiums paid by them through their agencies. It was also at that time when payment by the GSIS of the pension of retired government employees got all screwed up.

Then GSIS chief Winston Garcia attributed the glitches to the automation of the pension fund's system. It came to a point when Garcia sued IBM for the alleged faulty system it sold to the GSIS and IBM, in turn, filing a counter suit against GSIS.

Before the present GSIS administration starts blaming and accusing the incumbent LGU officials for the alleged non-remittance of GSIS premium payments, it should first determine whether or not some of the amounts involved were not remitted or were actually not posted during the time of Garcia.

I have been asking in this space why up to now GSIS President Robert Vergara and company have not filed any case against Winston Garcia. Mabuti pa ang PAGCOR, it has already filed four cases against Efraim Genuino and his cohorts. PCSO has exposed the anomalies in that office.

Why is it taking so long to unearth the alleged anomalies committed by Garcia and company in GSIS and the corresponding cases filed against them? Natutulog yata sa pansitan ang Vergara management. Hoy, gising!

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Reminders (for Noynoy's action):

1) Filing of charges against the previous administration's National Food Administration officials for the anomalous importation of rice. (Noynoy himself said there is documentary evidence to prove the anomaly.)

The report that the NFA lost a mind-boggling P100 billion in the last 10 years should spur Noynoy to go posthaste after those responsible for that grievous crime against his bosses, the people.

2) Facilitating the investigation of the rampant corruption in the military, including the uncovered anomaly in gas allowances.

3) Expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.

4) Preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice of the graft complaint filed late last year by Bayan Muna against Gloria Arroyo in connection with the aborted $329 million ZTE-NBN deal.

5) Investigation of the reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and the scandalous allowances and excessive benefits the members of the Board of Trustees allotted themselves (P11 million each) in 2009 alone.

Reports that the GSIS has stopped giving housing loans to members due to lack of funds gives urgency to Noynoy ordering the new GSIS management to act expeditiously on cases to be lodged against Garcia. People are anxiously waiting for them.

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Wikipedia defines "smiley" as a stylized representation of a smiling human face, depicted as a yellow sphere with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing mouth.

Ordinarily, one sees smileys in ads, recreation centers, department stores and on vehicles, among others. Occasionally, you also see them in airports, particularly at immigration counters and, generally, in establishments whose business it is to deal with the public directly, such as the DFA Consular Affairs Office.

And so, with the brickbats being thrown at the DFA consular office for the inordinate delay in the issuance of passports, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario agreed to have smileys put at the consular office on Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay and to have its personnel wear one. Fine. Service with a smile even by the poor, overworked and harassed personnel there.

But alas, Del Rosario decided to go one step further by agreeing to have a giant smiley placed on the main entrance of the foreign office building on Roxas Boulevard with the words "we serve you with a smile" emblazoned on it.

The question that immediately came to mind when I saw and took a picture of the smiley was "with its principal consular services already moved elsewhere, who are the people served by the foreign office?" The diplomats based in Manila and visiting dignitaries, foreign and local? Need our own diplomats be reminded to smile when they meet with them? Could it be that the Chinese diplomat who went there reportedly behaved improperly because no one would smile at him? Just asking.

The impression one gets when he sees that giant smiley is that at the time it was installed, the denizens in that building were not into smiling when dealing with their constituents. Was that why Del Rosario agreed to have it placed at the main entrance as a reminder "to serve with a smile"?

My point really in bringing this up is that that giant smiley or even a smaller version of it has no place at all in the premier department of the government. As one observer put it, "Ang baduy! Parang hindi diplomats' den!" Ay!

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Following are a couple of readers' reaction to my last column;

1) "Regarding your comment in your latest column that DFA Secretary Alberto del Rosario may be a green card holder, that does not surprise many of us who are here in the US. We have seen not a few former ambassadors who stayed in the US after they were supposed to have retired. They lived in their own homes acquired years before they retired and, for at least one, the spouse continued to hold a job and is believed to have acquired US citizenship. There are also some consuls and other diplomatic personnel who have done something similar. Instead of going back to the Philippines when they were recalled, they chose to resign and stay. That only goes to show that they either have green cards or they're risking being illegals (including their family) instead of going home. The government should develop a policy and a way to ferret out actions like this and dismiss them from the service. Acquiring a green card is, if not treason, at least an expression of disloyalty to the country, its government and to the diplomatic service and should never be allowed.

"Diplomatic personnel, however, are not alone in these situations. There are rumors that some cabinet, sub-cabinet level people, military personnel and other lower level personnel in previous and the present administrations also have green cards. There has to be some truth to this. There are several ex-cabinet persons and some still in government who had green cards they acquired during their supposed exile in the US during the Marcos years and who were never known to have given them up when they returned to the Philippines. Then there is the case of Gen. Garcia, who would not have invested in those properties in his or his wife's name in California without the expectation that they will retire in the US eventually. To do that they would, of course, have to have green cards.

"Just how rampant this is, if true, will never be known. But it should be an important consideration when people are appointed to government jobs or retained in their present government position."

2) "Studying for high school and college in the US does not entitle someone (to a) green card. If that were the case, pro immigration groups here would not be complaining about the foreign PhD graduates of top notch American universities not taken advantage of by granting automatic residency status due to their qualifications. Take note, these are the advance degrees in hard sciences, not in business and social sciences.

"I have a problem though with our government officials' seeming reluctance or inability to speak Tagalog or one of our dialects. After all, the audience are the Filipino people and not foreigners.

"Heck, even Pacquiao is trying hard to speak English as if it gives him additional privilege or respect when he could easily hire an interpreter, just like his Mexican foes."

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During the recently held French national day reception, Ambassador Thierry Borja de Mozota surprised everyone when he delivered, without notes, his welcome remarks and toast in Pilipino. Quite naturally, the Filipino guests were flattered and delighted to hear him speak in our language, albeit with a French accent.

The host government was represented by DFA Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio. She read her response from a prepared text – in English! Unlike her boss, Basilio is fluent in our language. Couldn't she at least have said something extemporaneously in our language, being the veteran diplomat that she is, in praise of the French ambassador's remarks in Pilipino? She did not. Pity.

I know that many foreign ambassadors here often begin their remarks during diplomatic, official or social functions with a greeting in Pilipino. A good diplomat almost always tries to impress his host country and people that way. And it works !

Del Rosario probably wouldn't see any need to do that sort of thing. His only diplomatic posting was in the US where he was truly at home, English being the only language he can speak it seems.

But as the country's top diplomat, second only to the President, he should sometimes at least try to speak in our language in our own country and to our people abroad. Remember Rizal's words about not loving one's own language, Mr. Secretary?

***

From an internet friend:

"Retirement Mistake"

Yesterday, my wife asked why I didn't do something useful with my time. She suggested I go down to the Senior Center and hang out with the guys

I did this and when I got home last night I told her that I had joined a parachute club.

She said, "Are you nuts? You're 70 years old and you're going to start jumping out of airplanes?"

I proudly showed her that I even got a membership card.

She said to me, "You idiot, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club!"

I'm in trouble again and don't know what to do! I signed up for five jumps a week!

Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier!

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Today is the 89th day of the fifth year of Jonas Burgos' disappearance.

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