Can’t Mark Villar take a hint?
PUB-LIC Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar has formed a task force to investigate the reported widespread corruption in his department, which was alleged by no less than President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte himself.
Villar should have resigned after the President came out with the exposé.
Even if the President has “cleared” Villar of the alleged corrupt practices of his subordinates, the honorable recourse for the latter is to tender his resignation.
A leader who is clueless about the shenanigans of his underlings has no business staying in office.
A responsible leader should know everything that happens under his charge.
It was a double whammy for Villar when the President ranted against the irregularities at the Department of Public Works and Highways ( DPWH).
The first blow was when the President made public the alleged corruption at the DPWH; the second was when Digong “cleared” Villar.
The President said that Villar was too rich to be involved in stealing the people’s money.
“Secretary Villar has lots of money. He does not need to steal,” said Digong. Couldn’t Villar take the hint? Well, if the public works and highways chief is too young to know the nuances of Digong’s language, he should be told that the Big Boss didn’t want to publicly humiliate him out of a sense of gratitude to his parents.
Villar’s parents — former senator Manny Villar, considered to be the richest man in the country, and his mother, an incumbent senator — contributed a huge amount to the then presidential candidate Duterte’s campaign chest.
When Digong cleared the young Villar of corruption at the DPWH, he was apparently mimicking, albeit mockingly, what a lady senator said many years ago, “Rich people don’t steal.”
Yes, ma’am, rich people don’t steal a pittance; they go for the big bucks.
***
The human trafficking syndicate composed of corrupt immigration officers has pocketed P40 billion — repeat, P40 billion — in bribes from Chinese nationals entering the country, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
Hontiveros’ Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality is investigating the reported human trafficking at the Manila international airport, which was exposed in this column last year.
With due respect to the senator, I think that the P40- billion figure is bloated, if she was only referring to Chinese nationals who came to the country to work in online casinos or become prostitutes.
Whistleblower Allison Chiong estimated that the syndicate, of which he was once a member, earned P10 billion from Chinese nationals from 2016 to 2019.
The P40- billion figure may have included outgoing Filipinos who didn’t have work permits or who would become prostitutes abroad.
According to my source at the Bureau of Immigration, the syndicate earned much more from Filipino workers going overseas without work permits than Chinese nationals coming in to work in the casinos or whorehouses.
My informant — not Chiong — said the syndicate got P30,000 each from outbound Filipino workers trying to leave without approval from the Department of Labor and Employment.
“If the outbound Filipinos who were trafficked are included then it’s possible that the syndicate earned that much (P40 billion),” the informant said.
With that humongous amount, a big chunk apparently went to the protector of the airport immigration officers’ syndicate.
And who would that protector be? Is it former Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd who assigned all the syndicate members at the Manila international airport?
Aguirre has admitted to the Hontiveros committee that he placed Mark Red Mariñas as head of the immigration office at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, despite the assignment of personnel being the responsibility of the immigration commissioner.
Aguirre also admitted that Mark Red was his son’s friend.
The question arises: Could Aguirre be the syndicate’s godfather?
What was the purpose of helicopters, allegedly chartered by immigration officers, frequently going to Aguirre’s hometown of Mulanay, Quezon, to deliver duffel bags, as has been reported by residents of the town?
May I suggest to the Hontiveros committee to look into the flight records at the civil aviation office of helicopters and their passengers going to Mulanay from 2016 to 2019?
*** Reports reaching this columnist say that the intelligence unit of the Calamba, Laguna police station is notorious for “planting” shabu on rehabilitated drug addicts.
Victor Alora, a vape shop owner, in the town’s Manoto Subdivision,
was arrested recently without warrant by armed men who introduced themselves as agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
It turned out that the raiders were not PDEA agents but Calamba policemen.
Alora, a former shabu user, was allegedly beaten up by the Calamba cops and his store robbed.
Alora’s mother, Mila, my former colleague in broadcast, said that Victor was forced to drink water laced with drugs to make it appear that he was positive for drug use.
Victor was rehabilitated years ago and has not touched drugs ever since, Mila said.
After Mila Alora wrote about her son’s arrest on social media, another parent wrote the following message:
“Thanks to you for exposing the abusive behavior of the Calamba policemen. My son was also victimized by them. They arrested my son and made him drink a pail of water laced with drugs. My son nearly died. We’re very thankful that you exposed the abusive behavior of the Calamba intelligence cops.”
The message was written in Tagalog, but I took the liberty of translating it into English.
Law enforcers who plant drugs on innocent citizens can be penalized with life imprisonment under the Comprehensive Anti- Illegal Drugs Law.
So far, I haven’t heard of a policeman going to prison for planting drugs under that law.
The courts and prosecutors’ offices always side with policemen who illegally arrest citizens on drug charges.
That’s how useless that law is, and it should perhaps be scrapped.