'Iwas Pusoy'

Written by REY O. ARCILLA | 15 October 2011

'Secretary Del Rosario should request the Commission on Audit to investigate alleged irregularities in the DFA.'

THERE is no such thing as 'little corruption'. Stealing is absolute – you either do it or you don't." – President Noynoy Aquino.

The message couldn't be any clearer than that. He uttered those words when he rebuked the Makati Business Club for suggesting that he step up government spending even at the cost of "little corruption" getting through.

I am sure the message is not lost on one of his cabinet members who is reportedly a prominent member of the club, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.

DFA personnel are still wondering why Del Rosario refuses to order the suspended erstwhile president of the DFA Personnel Association (DFAPA), Michael Macaraig, to turn over its funds to the incumbent president. About two million pesos are reportedly involved.

Being reputedly the richest cabinet member with a reported net worth of more than P600 million, Del Rosario perhaps considers the amount involved loose change and, therefore, does not deserve his attention. But, I assure him, not to the lowly members of the rank and file in the department to which I once belonged.

He claims he has nothing to do with the association. My foot! How can we make him understand that as head of the department, he is sworn to uphold not only the public interest, but also that of the DFA personnel? Is he not aware of the fact that his close friend and unlamented predecessor authorized in writing the collection of the membership fee of DFAPA members through payroll deduction? That made it official business of the department and its head. Need I say more?

And what about the alleged irregularities in the hiring of service cars for the upper hierarchy in the department? Macaraig was transportation section head before he was suspended. Has Del Rosario done anything about it? Apparently not.

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Is Del Rosario really "iwas-pusoy" when it comes to controversial matters involving his turf? That would be irresponsible. After all, he does not have to attend to them personally. He only has to issue appropriate instructions to his underlings to do the dirty job.

For instance, his favorite future ex-undersecretary for administration Rafael Seguis has admitted publicly that the DFA has been paying rental of P3 million annually for a chancery in Baghdad since 2004 or 2005 when we closed our diplomatic mission. What is Del Rosario going to do about it? Does Seguis' public admission mean that whoever was responsible for the "criminal" oversight (or is it criminal negligence?), i.e., wasting public funds, should no longer be held accountable for it?

(Here I am reminded of a CNN report that a former Egyptian information minister, Anas El Fiki, was recently sentenced to seven years in prison for squandering public funds. The charges against El Fiki had something to do with waiving fees for local private sports channels telecasting soccer games.)

Has Del Rosario asked Seguis who went to Baghdad recently ostensibly to assess the situation there, why the continuous rental of the house even after our diplomatic mission to Iraq was closed since the mid-2000 up to now? Has he even bothered to ask Seguis how the rental was being paid and to whom? Is rental payment covered by official receipts? If he hasn't even bothered to ask this sort of questions, wouldn't that be negligence on his part?

Since Del Rosario doesn't seem to have the stomach to deal with such contentious issues, why doesn't he just request the Commission on Audit to do the investigating on the reported irregularities in the department?

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And there is the matter of the alleged irregularities in the acquisition of the DFA consular office building on Macapagal Boulevard which was reportedly funded through the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). Del Rosario earlier reportedly promised his undersecretaries and assistant secretaries to have the matter investigated. Has he?

He may wish to take advantage of the directive of Noynoy to the DBP to declassify for purposes of investigation all information not only on the alleged behest loan granted to Marcos trade minister Roberto Ongpin, but also on other cases of alleged anomalous transactions.

Del Rosario would do well to always bear in mind the words of his boss – "there is no such thing as little corruption", aside from the "daang matuwid" dictum.

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Going back to Baghdad, Seguis reported that the Iraqi government would like us to re-open our embassy there.

I have no idea what Seguis recommended to Del Rosario, although I heard the inclination is to re-open it with a mid-level officer as charge'd'affaires.

But one thing is definite – our ambassador to Iraq, Bayani Mangibin, and two of his staff members who have been based in Amman, Jordan since April of last year have been recalled to the home office. Nobody understands why. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Mangibin's recall. Or the one of Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente in Libya for that matter, as mentioned in this space last week.

If the intention is to re-open the embassy in Baghdad, why send a junior officer as charge' d'affaires? Why not Mangibin? Wouldn't an ambassador be more effective in Baghdad? After all, he is the duly appointed ambassador to that country and he has done less than two years as such. At least give him the opportunity to serve in his post of assignment.

People are beginning to suspect that Del Rosario does not call the shots when it comes to assignments/re-assignments of personnel in our posts in the Middle East/North Africa. Who then? Seguis? Well, that is the impression everyone gets.

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Last week, I wrote about the possession by Miguel Arroyo, husband of Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, of a diplomatic passport. To begin with, Arroyo is no longer entitled to a diplomatic passport according to Philippine Passport Act of 1996 (RA 8239), except when he is accompanying his wife on official mission. So the one he was carrying must have been the same diplomatic passport issued to him during his wife's illegitimate regime.

The Bureau of Immigration said the passport was valid. For a diplomatic passport to be valid for travel, it must be revalidated by the DFA after every trip abroad. Was it revalidated? If it was, the DFA made a serious mistake. If it wasn't, the Bureau of Immigration does not know the regulations on diplomatic passports.

Question: Has Foreign Secretary Del Rosario ordered the cancellation of the diplomatic passport issued to Arroyo? If not, why not? Is he waiting for Noynoy to order him to do so to comply with the law? As far as I know, Del Rosario hasn't issued any order to cancel the passport. .

Ano ba 'yan?! "Iwas-pusoy" na naman? If he cannot do these things for whatever reason, he may wish to consider seeking the help of Captain DFA, the department's mascot and "defender of the faith". And if it makes him somehow sad he is unable to do these things on his own, he could seek comfort from the ever-smiling giant smiley he had installed on the front entrance of the DFA building.

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Some people have asked why I keep harping on alleged irregularities in the DFA. (A stupid question really, if they actually read my columns.) Well, if I don't, who will? I also do not want to fall in the same rut as most of our government officials and others in various sectors. Some irregularities are unearthed but soon after the media lose interest in them, everybody forgets about them.

Many are also asking where I get all the stuff I write about the department. From insiders! There could be much more, were it not for the fact that the majority are scared to volunteer information. There is now a growing fear, paranoia if you will, among DFA personnel that everyone's phone calls and emails are monitored, specifically to find out who has been leaking information to outsiders.

Of course, their fears may not be unfounded. In any case, it became more pronounced after Del Rosario ordered an investigation on who among the career officers allegedly told the media that Noynoy committed treason when he met with the MILF chief in Tokyo a month or so ago. Nearly everyone thought that was a stupid order. So what if any career diplomat said so? Del Rosario should know we still have free speech in this country.

Happily, this does not discourage those who truly want change in the way things are run in the department. And there are quite a number of them, anonymous though they will continue to remain. To be sure, some have already been intimidated into silence. But there will be other brave souls who will emerge and fight for the cause. And as long as they are there willing to take the attendant risks for doing what is right, so will this column be their "exhaust fan". Let that be our contribution to Noynoy's "daang matuwid". And, more importantly, let us hope and pray that he notices, listens and takes action.

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Marine 2nd Lt. Arnel Arrieta said that among the terrorist group that attacked their camp in Talipao, Sulu last week were four Malaysians. At least 15 people, including one of the Malaysians and two marines, were reportedly killed in the gunfight. Arrieta himself was wounded in the clash.

Noynoy's bosses would be interested to know what the departments of foreign affairs and national defense are doing about the incident, specifically the reported involvement of Malaysian nationals.

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Reminders (for Noynoy's action):

1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Administration during Arroyo's regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency; 2) facilitating the investigation of rampant corruption in the military and police establishments; 3) expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos; and 4) investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia.

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From an internet friend:

This is a continuation from last week's story about a dog named Sex.

When I decided to get married, I told the minister that I wanted to have Sex at the wedding. He told me to wait until after the wedding. I said, "But, Sex has played a big part in my life and my whole lifestyle revolves around Sex." He said he did not want to hear about my personal life and would not marry us in a church. I told him everyone coming to the wedding would enjoy having Sex there. The next day we were married by the Justice of the Peace. My family is barred from the church.

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Today is the 159th day of the fifth year of Jonas Burgos' disappearance.

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