Comedy of Errors Continue:

Hurts “Only when I Laugh”


There is total consensus that the tragic death of 9 tourists at the hands of dismissed, and eventually slain, policeman/hostage taker Rolando Mendoza involved many major errors on the part of the police forces handling the incident.

For example, there is the full, uncontrolled TV coverage that enabled Mendoza to see exactly what was happening at the site and wherever the cameras went thus undermining the police’ ability to manage and control the negotiating process. This inanity is compounded by a member of Congress who reportedly stated that he was filing a bill to prevent media from future coverage of similar incidents. “Earth to Congress: The police already have this authority and power!!”. The problem is we have incompetent police, the result, in large part, of the massive and endemic corruption in the police organization from top to bottom!!!

The jokes keep piling on!! Here is Mayor Alfredo Lim saying that Mendoza’s brother, also a policeman, was not ordered arrested by him but that he only ordered to have him handcuffed. Mr. Mayor, when a person is dragged out of his house by policemen and then handcuffed and brought to the scene of the ongoing hostage crisis he is by all definition “arrested”. The distinction you are trying to make is asinine, to say the least!!

But wait you, Mayor and our Congress, are not the only jokers. There is Mayor Sonia Torres Aquino of the town of Tanauan where the deceased Mendoza resides, sent a Philippine flag to be draped on the coffin of the murderer!! And what’s more the whole world saw this because the media showed images of the flag draped coffin on TV. Needless to say the Chinese government went bonkers that a mass murderer is treated like a fallen hero!! But wait maybe Sonia Aquino has a point here: our people are so used to corrupt policemen that when one is killed it means there is one less extortionist in uniform and is indeed a cause for hero treatment. Excuse me but this is so pathetic and comical. I’m being sarcastic of course and it hurts only when I laugh. ( Can someone please explain why the murderers body is in a coffin at home and not at the police morgue where it belongs?)

Message to Congress and President Benigno Aquino III: Stop the Zarzuelas that you call “investigation”. Close this circus down. Find someone you can trust who has impeccable credentials and credibility and have him or her conduct this investigation out of the public eye and once completed release the results first to the Chinese government, and then to the nation. I know it is a challenge to find someone who enjoys this kind of trust and credibility. Perhaps you can ask former finance secretary Jesus (Jess) Estanislao to head such an investigation.

Concurrently, try and look for a few ex-US Marine drill sergeants and have them whip up the police force into fitness. Contract an international team of hostage experts and have them train police and military on the handling of these types of crises so that future ones are better handled. Training must be an ongoing, perpetual process, in all aspects of law enforcement and crisis management such as fires, floods and typhoon catastrophes’.

Then focus attention on cleaning up the country’s peace and order infrastructure and rid it of corrupt elements. This probably means most of the police and military hierarchy as it is strongly rumored that up to 80 percent of all policemen are beneficiaries of graft money from such elements as jueteng operators, smugglers, drug lords and corrupt politicians. Those who are not in on this level of corruption are involved, like the late Mendoza, in such rackets as extortion or other forms of tong.

The corruption circle is not limited to police or military. Many judges and prosecutors (fiscals in Philippine parlance) are also in on the take. So the approach that needs to be used Mr. President and Congress, is a total systems overhaul of the establishment. You promised the Filipino people an end to corruption, start with the police and military. If you can clean those two organizations up all other corrupt outfits that populate all levels of government will fall like the proverbial house of cards, because you can then trust the police and the military to go after grafters vigorously. You might then be able to even sic a corruption free police and military establishment to go after the biggest thieves of all: those governors, mayors, members of Congress who are embroiled in all kinds of “businesses” and get them all to jail. Wouldn’t that be something!!

In the meantime, please keep all the jokers out of the public eye.
“Nakakahiya!”

Mendoza Was a Rogue Cop- feared by students

Shuddering pangs of fear and apprehension has been gripping a segment of the student population in Manila, all thanks to the deceased police officer Rolando Mendoza and some of his colleagues.

So palpable is the fear in fact that the information in this report is shared only on condition of anonymity not only of the actual source but also the friends of the source who passed the information on to me. I am filing this report nevertheless because the information contained herein can be verified with Manila police and city officials as well as the office of the Ombudsman.

Here’s the story:

One balmy night in 2008 a student drove to his school location to return a small office instrument by dropping it off at the school’s lobby. He found a parking space in an open, unoccupied lot right beside the school campus. Upon his return he found several policemen hovering over his car.

The “leader” of the police contingent, later identified as Rolando Mendoza, accused the student of “illegal” parking. When he queried how the policemen could say he was parked illegally since there was a car parked in front of his, as well as another car parked in the back of it.

“Uy pilosopo ka pala” (Oh, so you are an argumentative type) Mendoza said, and forthwith ordered him to open his car’s trunk. Mendoza immediately threw in a small packet into the trunk, which he then established as marijuana and pills in the possession of the student.

There was a crowd that had gathered at this point and the student, hopeful that the presence of witnesses would deter the policemen from any further action, shouted to the crowd, “kita ninyo na nilagay”( you saw that he planted it).

Mendoza then shouted at the crowd in a louder voice, “ Sino and nakakita?”
(Who witnessed this?) at which point the crowd, fearing the angered policemen could turn on them, meekly dispersed.

He then instructed the student to get on the driver’s seat. As he sat, Mendoza then used the seat belt to choke the student’s neck, pulled his head back by grabbing his hair making the student gasp for breath and at which point one of the other policemen shoved shabu down his throat.

“O, yan may shabu sa sistema mo, “ Mendoza said. At this point the police group got in the car and instructed to student to produce his ATM card. They drove to the nearest bank ATM outlet and withdrew an undisclosed amount from the account. This transaction was caught on the bank’s security cameras.

They then drove to the precinct at which point Mendoza reportedly instructed the student to call whoever he could to get them the amount of money they wanted. The student called his father, then travelling and out in the provinces, and handed the phone to Mendoza. The latter demanded that the father give him 200,000 pesos that night as his son was in jail for possession and use of illegal drugs. The father said he did not have access to that amount of money. Ultimately one of the friends that the student had contacted brought over 20,000 pesos in cash and with this the policemen let the student go.

As the story goes, Mayor Lim, travelling in San Francisco, California learned of this incident as one of the people in the audience he was addressing at the time read aloud a report written by one of the student’s classmates describing the incident. Needless to say the Manila mayor was flushed with embarrassment at this report and upon his return to Manila reportedly sacked the entire group and Mendoza was reportedly transferred to Mindanao.

The Ombudsman then investigated the incident, obtained details and used the bank security film to convict Mendoza resulting in the latter’s removal from his post.

The student has expressed a desire to leave the incident behind. He learned from others that at least 5 other students of the same school were similarly victimized by this group of police officers. When asked by a tv reporter to comment on the aborted hijacking that led to the death of Mendoza, the student reportedly said that as he had nothing good to say about the deceased officer and preferred to remain silent.

Reporter’s Comment:
So fearful are large segments of the Philippine population of the police and military establishments that only people outside the country can feel safe reporting stories like this one.
http://ldq1944.blogspot.com
ldq44@aol.com

Death, Tragedy, Incompetence, yet at the Core: Corruption

The tragic death of 8 Chinese tourists at the hands of suspended policeman Rolando Mendoza is a sad yet bloody reminder that the Philippines can be a dangerous place even for foreigners who had entrusted their care, and lives, into the hands of our tourism industry. News of the carnage is plastered in major global newspapers including today’s (Aug 25) issues of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. TV news accounts are even more graphic and macabre.

Needless to say the Philippines will not be a favorite vacation spot for many Chinese and others. For now, this is the very least of our worries even if the country can surely use the lost tourism dollars.

The word “incompetence” has been used in describing the law enforcement actions and overall performance in handling and managing this crisis. Yet, in my opinion, what really ails our law enforcement and military establishments, the two institutions charged with ensuring the peace and security of the Philippine citizenry, is corruption at all levels of these organizations. It is no secret that police and military positions are highly coveted. They are sure fire routes to riches. From traffic control to vice squad to theft, burglaries and other major crimes, the common perception among the people is that law and justice is there only for the rich and powerful. For all the rest, the small businessman, the employees, the housewives, the students, the street vendors trying to eke out a living – those people once referred to by Ramon Magsaysay as the common tao- the amount of justice they can expect is commensurate to how much they are prepared to shell out to those who wield authority and power. I’m sure there are honest military and law enforcement personnel but these seem to be so rare that one hardly hears of them.

It is corruption that undermines competence and professionalism. How does a policeman get a job on the force? Usually via a note or a phone call or direct personal intercession by a political padrino. And once on the force the policeman’s “untouchability” is vastly proportionate to the importance and clout of his or her patron.

Let’s take a close look at the case of the late Rolando Mendoza, the gunman
in this tragedy. What drove him to take his desperate act? Perhaps the realization that unless he got reinstated his life of luxury was probably over? I do not have the facts in his case and I have to admit that I am merely surmising and imagining what really was going on (perhaps it is quixotic to expect that pure, unencumbered truth will be available from the police hierarchy). Was Mendoza perhaps aggrieved that he was caught extorting money from whoever and was punished when others on the force who perhaps committed even bigger crimes got off scot free? Was he upset that his superior or whoever disciplined him had no “pakikisama” and singled him out? Definitely not beyond the realm of possibility.

And let’s look at his behavior on the day of the carnage. Here he was, armed to the teeth, flagging down a tourist bus because he had to “hitch a ride” to the grandstand.

Whatever happened to police transportation? Is the police force so lacking in equipment and materials because a large portion of the police budget is salted away by the bigwigs in the form of bribes, overpricing and other form of thievery?
In flagging down the bus Mendoza acted as if he was “entitled” to that ride regardless of how ugly the scene must look to those tourists. And the driver of the bus knew that if he refused to open the bus doors and let that policeman on board that he could very well be the victim of harassment for the rest of his life. And this sense of entitlement by virtue of a position of power or authority is pervasive in Philippine daily life.

Anyway, corruption, that is the point of this piece. It pervades all aspects of police work. Poor training? Who conducts the training program? Who are selected for specialized positions? If the job is one that does not afford the policeman an opportunity to make extra income the lowest man on the competence or patronage totem pole is likely the one picked. If a third party, privately owned entity were to provide the training, how much would that business have to spend in grease money to get the contract? Needless to say they would skimp on the actual training to manage their costs and obtain a profit. This is true in almost all aspects of life in the Philippines, not just police and military.

And these conditions reportedly prevail in military quarters as well. All we get are whispers about this or that general, or colonel or captain have this or that business interest. Most of the businessmen and professionals affected are deathly scared to be identified as the source of reports of alleged corruption. Exposing the corruption or complaining about it can be a deadly mistake. The saddest bit of news in fact is that military officers have been said to be heading this or that gang of criminals and thieves responsible for heists and kidnappings. I’m sure that to the readers of this piece, this is not the first time they have heard of this scandal.

Reports are that the Philippine leaders are looking at this bloody tragedy as the impetus to institute reform, training and professionalism. This is well and good, but it will be for naught if corruption is not completely and decisively removed from the equation. I hope that President Aquino will indeed use this incident to effect a massive, far reaching and substantive shake up of the police and military establishments so that at long last the guardians of our people can and will finally begin doing their jobs. Failing to transform the character and nature of our military and law enforcement organizations will render useless and inutile all other efforts at curtailing and eliminating corruption in government.

ldq44@aol.com

"When winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

First posted May 23, 2010

That rhetorical question from Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" has been
oft asked in Reno, Nevada this year. Here we are just a few weeks away from the
official start of summer and last night the temperature dipped down to 31 degrees Fahrenheit.
I doubt if we go over 50 degrees today. The sun is absent and ominous clouds hang over
our skies. Snow fell over the Lake Tahoe basin and many of the Sierra Nevada peaks.

" Cover your plants and gardens", the weatherman impishly adviced last night.

Too late. Tomato plants have frozen as have some sturdy rose bushes.

The Truckee River along that stretch between Arlington and Lake Avenues
is bereft of their usual rafters, fishermen and frollicking youth who love to
jump into the water. And whoever is "walking" thru the park by the river is
usually bundled up and thankful for the bars along the way where rum and
vodka are generously dispensed. Even the lattes are selling well.
Churro and roasted chesnut vendors would surely complete this winter scene.

And cold blows the wind down this valley...and surely summer will usher in
a welcome warmth...yet, alas, we have lost our spring.

Aquino-Marcos Truth and Reconciliation, Possible, Necessary

This past week every media venue, including Facebook, was awash in tributes and remembrances of the late Ninoy Aquino, and rightly so. Few in our history have given so much for so many. In the darkest days of the Marcoses ‘Conjugal Dictatorship’, when truth and virtue were subordinated to convenience and expediency, Ninoy provided the oppressed and silenced with hope and fortitude.

Of all the pieces I read these past few days, what struck me most was the account written in the Philippine Star by my once-upon-a-time “news source” and friend, Heherson (Sonny) Alvarez. In the mid-70’s Sonny and his wife Cecille Guidote were the visible and active leaders of the anti-martial law coalition in New York. As one of the editors at Philippine News in San Francisco, I often called Sonny for an opinion or viewpoint on current news developments related to the Philippines. He always graciously gave of his time and spoke his mind. We met once when he made a trip to San Francisco. Frankly, I was taken aback by his humility and candor, and his fierce intellect.

Yet this is not a story about him, but what he wrote and revealed in the August 21 issue of the Philippine Star. It seems that Alvarez was one of the few people who had spent quality time with Ninoy Aquino in those days that immediately preceded his fateful departure for the Philippines 27 years ago this past week. And the revelation of what was discussed in those meetings between Ninoy and Sonny, is, to be frank, quite astounding if only because it revealed Ninoy’s mindset in those last few days of his life, which was diametrically different from the image we had of him.

Filipinos, like myself and millions of others, who were old enough and around in the late 1960’s, remember Aquino to be the very embodiment of the “warrior-statesman”, an image that found resonance among the Philippine population. He was going to be the knight atop a white horse and in shining armor, riding to victory and liberating the country from the dark forces of the Marcos administration. His ordeal of incarceration and torture in Marcoses dungeons after martial law was declared in 1972 only reinforced his image as the people’s champion.

After his exile in the early ‘80’s the expectation was that he would be gathering the forces of liberty with every intention of eventually leading a charge to retake the Philippines. Yet Alvarez tells us a story that reveals Aquino’s true, and transformed, outlook. He had become a believer in non violent action, very much influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

At the time that this was taking place, Aquino did not broadcast nor propagate in any way his revised outlook. It seems he wanted the Filipinos to keep faith with the aspirations that his past image conjured. Be strong, be ready for the fight ahead, seemed to be the message he continued to send.

Yet in his odyssey back to the Philippines Ninoy had taken a totally different outlook of the struggle that was to come. No longer was he going to challenge Marcos in a duel to the death, he was now prepared to unclench his fists and offer the dictatorship the open palms of peace and reconciliation. Aquino, it seems, was ready to offer Marcos a face-saving, and tranquil way out of the dark night of martial law into the bright sunshine of democracy without shedding a drop of blood, nor a tear of regret.

What Aquino was planning to do, I am surmising from the account given by Alvarez, was to engage in the very kind of reconciliation that, almost a decade later, Nelson Mandela fashioned out so that South Africa could navigate away from apartheid with the least destruction possible. If he did not reveal this prior to his departure from Boston, it is, I am concluding, because he wanted to do so only after he had had an opportunity to directly address the Filipino people and articulate his new, peaceful vision.

Aquino’s assassination on the tarmac of the airport that now bares his name wrote finis’ to whatever visions he may have nurtured. And the rest, as they say, is history.

But now that Aquino’s only son is the country’s president, is it possible to revisit Ninoy’s revised vision? Can Noynoy now lead the country on the road to reconciliation and balm once and for all the bitter wounds that continue to bleed and thus infect our body politic?

What will it take for the country to forgive the Marcoses and their cohorts?
There must be confession and contrition. We must know who exactly ordered Aquino’s assassination. We must know who perpetrated the decades of torture and abuse of political prisoners in those many camps and dungeons that once held our hundreds of prisoners of conscience. We must know how much of the country’s wealth is still out there in secret accounts and holdings; some of these must be returned to the nation’s coffers so that it can be used to rebuild the country’s aching and decaying infrastructure. What we’ve lost, the horrendous deaths and suffering of hundreds, perhaps thousands, cannot ever be made whole and restored. Yet we must trudge on forward, better served if we no longer have to carry the heavy burdens of rancor and regret.

And Filipinos are exactly the people who can forgive. It is in our nature and culture to absolve the sins visited on us by enemies. We have forgiven the Spaniards, our colonizers for some 400 years. We have forgiven the Americans for the massacres that took place at the turn of the 20th century. We have forgiven the erstwhile much hated Japanese who annihilated our forces on Bataan and undertook the cruel and deadly ‘Death March’. Our country is devotedly Catholic and overwhelmingly Christian, and we harbor religious persuasions that extol the virtues of contrition and forgiveness. So why not try?

I know that this is a 180 degree turn away from our sentiments of the past 3 decades, and it is a major paradigm shift for many, this writer included. Yet if we are to truly honor the memory and spirit of our national hero Benigno Aquino Jr., we need to adopt as our own his revised vision for our country. He would have forgiven the Marcoses. He would have fashioned out an honorable a pact as he could buttress so that the country could be channeled into a more progressive and rewarding future.

And the country needs this, now more than ever. I urge President Benigno Aquino III to be truly his father’s son and act on the inspirational message he left us thru Heherson Alvarez. Forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, progress.

Thank you, Sonny Alvarez, for sharing that enduring moment you spent with
Ninoy. May we hear more from you.

http://ldq1944.blogspot.com ldq44@aol.com

Golf Yields One More ‘Lesson’

What can I say? Here I was ready to finally write finis to the golf analogies of the past couple weeks and what happens? Dustin Johnson happens, that’s what. For the unfamiliar, let me set the stage: there are about 15 to 20 or so golf tournaments in the US that are conducted under the auspices of the PGA, the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. There are a few others like the Dubai Open or the Shanghai open that are played annually around the world. There are, however, only 4 “major” tournaments:the Masters, at the Augusta Golf Club; the US Open held at different US venues each year; the British Open and the PGA championship, the season’s last major. The PGA championship is in fact referred to by CBS as “Glory’s last shot!”. It is the last opportunity for professional golfers to win a “major” in the calendar year. Needless to say, winning a major is a big deal. In fact an underlying storyline this past weekend was that it was Tiger Woods last and final opportunity to “redeem” his otherwise disastrous year (and I’m only referring to his golf). But this story is not about Tiger, it is about Dustin.

Last weekend ( Thursday thru Sunday) the PGA championship was played out at the Whistling Straits country club in Kohler, Wisconsin. It is a course that straddles the eastern shores of Lake Michigan and offers views that are both breathtaking and stunning in its beauty. The course, however, is challenging in its layout, length and its over 1,000 “sand traps”; so many of the latter in fact that the fairways and greens look like slender bodies of water surrounded by all that sand, which is probably how it got its name, i.e. straits. It is a course designed by the renowned golf course architect, Pete Dye. Perhaps as a backhanded tribute to his reputation, Whistling Straits is often called “Dyebolical”.

So here comes Dustin Johnson, this poor soul. He is a young golfer whose erstwhile claim to fame was his wretched meltdown on the final day of the US Open at
Pebble Beach a few months back.

Anyway, last Sunday he was in the final pairing at Whistling Straits. He was among 4 or 5 other young golfers who hugged the leaderboard all afternoon long. Finally, at the 18th hole he had a chance to win the championship outright by sinking a tantalizingly close 18 foot putt. He failed, bogeyed and was slated to participate in a 3 player playoff with Bubba Watson and German phenom Martin Kaymer, the eventual winner.

Poor Dustin, however, could not even join the playoff. Right after he sank his bogey and as he headed to the scorer’s table he was met by the chairman of the rules committee. “Not so fast, old boy!”. No, the chairman did not say that and in fact. approached Dustin with due reverence and respect. He did ask Dustin though, if, prior to his 3rd to the last shot, he had “grounded” his club prior to hitting the ball in the “bunker” (sand trap). Puzzled, “what bunker?” he asked. Wow, controversy city!

As it happens, his 1st shot went wayward and “off the ropes”. In fact it landed in the midst of about 200 spectators some sitting, some standing around what looked like ordinary terrain. As he was about to take his 2nd shot from where his ball landed no one ever noticed it was a bunker or sand trap. Not him, not his caddy, none of the golf commentators and analysts from CBS.

You see, in a “normal” bunker, only the golfer is supposed to be in there to make the shot. He can’t have his caddy in the trap. He can’t even lay another club in there. Needless to say there should be no spectators in it as well. So, the “ambiance” or setting, if you will, of the 2nd shot, did not lend itself to anyone noticing this was a trap. Dustin went into his normal routine in hitting a normal shot. Before hitting the ball, he let his club touch the ground immediately adjacent to the rear of his ball, or as the chairman later explained, he “grounded” his club. Which was then a violation costing Dustin a two-stroke penalty, thus casting him out of the playoffs.

Rules for hitting the shot in a bunker are quite strict and stringent. A golfer, for example, cannot try a practice shot on the sand itself. By “grounding” a club in the sand trap a golfer could gain an advantage because this action could give him a feel for the texture of the sand, therefore a no-no. And the thing about golf is that the golfer is personally and solely responsible for understanding the rules. If circumstances are such that clarification is necessary based on conditions, the golfer can and will always ask for a ruling from the official in the field. Yet the official is there to answer questions, not to provide golfers with unsolicited advice.

Dustin Johnson sadly, yet graciously acknowledged his mistake and accepted the verdict. In the process he lost an opportunity to be a prestigious “majors” champion and also the chance to win the $1.4 million first prize. Honor, honesty, integrity were more important to him, as it would be to many professional golfers.

And how this ties in to my two previous pieces is that perhaps Sen. Vicente Sotto III is really on to something when he emphatically and passionately expressed opposition to the appointment of Angelito Alvarez to the post of Customs Commissioner because, he said, the latter had cheated in a recent golf tournament. Transplanting golf ethics and behavior standards to Philippine government, business and even daily lives could create a triumphant transformation if it did indeed come about. The events on a golf course last weekend showcased the value of adhering rigidly to rules and not to digress into “accommodation” or in Philippine parlance “bigayan”. A policeman, for example, ought not to conveniently “look the other way” when writing up traffic violations simply because the person guilty of the infraction is a fellow government employee or a town mate. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for example, ought not be allowed to pardon Joseph Estrada with the expectation that her successor would act in a similar vein when the time comes for her to account for her and her family’s notorious transgressions. For the people to once again trust their government the virtues of honor, honesty and integrity must be the dominant strain in the DNA of the country’s leaders.

I hope that Sen. Sotto III continues with, and expands, his crusade to make the rules of golf, and strict adherence to the same, the standard by which Philippine public officials are judged and measured.And with Aquino III as president he has a strong and vocal ally.

And yes, this is finis to my golf series…perhaps.

ldq44@aol.com

More on Golf and the Customs "Mordida"

My recent article on golf rules as it relates to life’s lessons triggered an active, and somewhat spirited, exchange of emails. One reader wondered whether, based on the report of cheating in golf, President Aquino III ought to withdraw the appointment of his nominee for Collector of Customs. Oh, if only we could get thru to P.Noy. The rationale for this proposed reversal is that if an individual can cheat in a game, the core values of which are honesty and integrity, should he be trusted with heading a bureau that is the very epitome of, and is unquestionably synonymous with, corruption and graft itself?

Another reader, responding to the supposition, expressed the view that we need to “get real” and not expect that the appointment be rescinded. The unexpressed conclusion from this reader is that the system is inextricably flawed and to expect that the right and honorable thing to take place is, frankly, utopian.

A third reader though provided the information that Angelito Alvarez comes from the freight forwarding community which deals daily with Customs on both the export and import side of the business. Much of the graft mullah, I believe, comes more from the import side’s brokers. The reader snickered intimating perhaps that Alvarez, thru his appointment by Aquino III as Customs Commissioner, is much like a fox given charge of the henhouse.

This observation sent me cruising down memory lane. In one of my past lives I managed the operations aspects of a major US forwarder at their Los Angeles branch. Part of my responsibilities took me to many locations around the world to address our global customers’ service and operations issues. This included setting up processes to expedite clearance of goods thru Customs in order to achieve “just in time” objectives which were crucial to our customers ability to meet their production timetables. So, I had to deal with Customs issues in many ports. The one port that I was advised to avoid and not waste my time on was Manila. We had an agent here who performed our Customs clearances and the word I got was that no process change could ever enhance clearance and delivery times unless bribes were paid. This was also the case in a couple of African countries.

In one of my business trips to Manila in 1997, former colleagues from PAL invited me to a 50th anniversary celebration dinner to mark the airline’s founding. At my table were Customs brokers and representatives of other forwarders. I found that to be an opportune time to get some feedback on how our competitors were doing in Manila. And the conversation, naturally, drifted into discussing conditions at Customs. In whispered tones, here’s what I got:

Bribes and graft at Philippine Customs, it was alleged, are in fact “institutionalized”. There is a monthly “retainer” that larger forwarders and brokerage companies allegedly pay to Customs brass just to be in “good standing” at the Bureau. Then there was the “per shipment” bribe that was necessary if one were ever to hope that clearance paperwork would move from one desk to the next. In some cases up to 10 signatures were reportedly required. The urgency with which the shipment needed to move determined, they said, the size of the bribe.

“What we do is pass the cost on to our customers by charging higher ‘service fees’, which are added to the taxes and other fees associated with the importation of these goods,” one of the confidants whispered.

“That is why”, he added, “our service fees here can be up to ten times that which is charged the same customers who have goods going to Europe or Singapore .”

And these fees of course are passed on to the final user of the goods and services, i.e. the Filipino people. Clearly, the mordida is hardly a victimless crime. It is not those often despised multinationals or rich fat Philippine merchants who get stiffed, ,it is Juan dela Cruz whose pockets are actually picked.

Will Alvarez indeed become that fox in charge of the chickens gobbling up all that bribe money, and, in the process deliver a fatal blow to Aquino III’s mantra of incorruptibility? Or will he use his knowledge of the surreptitious practices and thru honesty and industry eliminate the bribe taking culture at Customs? Will he give the country hope that this most vilified Bureau will turn a new leaf?

If he does the latter, then I’m sure we can persuade Sen. Vicente Sotto III to let the golf cheating incident slide by. And then again maybe not. Golfers are a stubborn lot.

ldq44@aol.com