Septuagenarian Notes (7) SHALL THE PHL BAN, DISMANTLE, KICK POGOS OUT OF PHL?

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

 

EVERY conceivable crime is being attributed to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country. Nonpayment of taxes, noncompliance of labor laws, refusal to employ Filipino workers, human trafficking, kidnapping, murder, torture, swindling, prostitution, illegal detention, and other crimes of violence – these are among the crimes allegedly committed by POGOs, specifically the unlicensed ones. The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the state agency that probes and prosecutes criminal elements in the country, reported that certain POGOs have aligned with local criminal syndicates, leading to perceptions these POGOs cause social problems here.

 

The emerging key question: whether to impose ban on these POGOs, dismantle and kick them out of the country, or keep these POGOs, but institute pivotal reforms and stringent regulations on them. Opinions are divided at the moment.

 

As horror stories flood mass media about their crime-laden operations, the emerging opinion is to declare POGOs a threat to national security, ban and kick them out of the country for good, and seize and confiscate their property here. Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian are among the lawmakers, who push their dismantling.

 

Rep. Wilbert Lee of the Agri Party List said in a recent media forum that most lawmakers agree that it is time to kick them out of the country. The taxes they remit, the jobs they give to Filipino laborers, and the benefits they are supposed to yield to the national economy are minimal, Lee argued. A total ban on POGOs is most appropriate because the negative effects of their presence here outweigh the positive.

 

For his part, Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, PAOCC chief, acknowledged the enormous issues these POGOs have and claimed in a recent separate media forum that his office would initiate seizure initiatives against the pieces of property these POGOs have obtained. The BBM administration has yet to make a final decision.

 

Dr. Winston John Casio, PAOCC spokesman, said 107 of the 402 POGOs with cancelled license continue to operate here. Only four of this number were raided and closed for good. Law implementation is not easy, Casio admitted, as he rued PAOCC’s dependence on other state agencies to fulfill its mandate to get rid of organized crimes in the country.

 

These include the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Justice (DoJ), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Bureau of Immigration and Deportation, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), the regulator of gaming business in the country. PAOCC, he said, has only 47 employees and they include menial workers like four drivers, an auto mechanic, and security guards.

 

For his part, Alejandro Tengco, Pagcor chair and chief executive officer, has come to the defense of the POGOs, sounding unabashedly as main apologist. The legitimate and licensed offshore gaming operators pose no threat to national security, he proclaimed, as he pointed instead to “alien hacking and scam syndicates” as the real danger.

 

Tengco, claiming their positive contributions to the national economy, said licensed operators – previously known as POGOs but now referred to as IGLs (Internet Gaming Licensees) – have remitted gross revenues of P20 billion in 2023.  Tengco did not give any data of target revenue collections as contrasted with actual collections.

 

“To us, the real threat are the alien hacking and scam syndicates, which operate underground, and they are the ones that our law enforcement agencies are trying to locate and dismantle,” Tengco said. He does not provide the whys and wherefores of the underground POGOs operating in the country.

 

“We should not blame and demonize our licensed gaming operators because these are closely monitored by PAGCOR,” he said. “Our licensees pay taxes, and they help provide legitimate jobs and livelihood to a lot of people.”

 

According to Tengco, PAGCOR has begun embedding monitoring teams in the physical venues of all licensed gaming operators, including land-based casinos, to ensure compliance with the terms of their licenses. Those IGLs found violating the provisions of their licenses are issued with fines and, in the most serious offenses, have their licenses revoked and bonds forfeited.

 

Tengco said: “We do not need to outlaw POGOs; what we need to do is intensify anti-crime operations against suspected alien hackers, against scammers and cyber-criminals who are usually hiding in highly secured buildings and compounds. These criminal syndicates are not engaged in offshore gaming at all, and even if they are, they are doing it illegally. So, they are the real threat, and we must go after them with everything that we have.”

 

POGOS are online gambling firms operating here mainly for foreign customers, largely from China. These POGOs are licensed by Pagcor, the regulator. POGOs have been in the country since 2003 but their operations were largely confined in special economic zones (SEZs). They numbered then a few dozens. In 2016, when Rodrigo Duterte became president, POGOs proliferated to indicate his closeness and political alignment with China.

 

By 2019, their number grew astonishingly, making Duterte as sort of their father and sponsor in the country.

 

While Duterte cultivated the unabated entry of POGO workers, mostly Chinese nationals, and unrestrained growth of POGOs in the country during his incumbency, China was said to have frown on them. China officially prohibits gambling, as its citizens are discouraged to engage in gambling. Those POGOs essentially represent the dark side of Chinese investments in the country. China has ambivalent attitude.

 

It appears that by allowing Duterte to deal with POGOs, the latter would be satisfied by a new steady stream of income from them. There is no proof to show the Chinese leniency, although it would appear that this is an arrangement that would placate Duterte, who is perceived to be an ally of China in the Philippines. It was boom time for POGOs during Duterte’s incumbency. China is officially against gambling, but it allows Duterte to reap benefits from them by not sanctioning their operations in the Philippines.

 

For their part, a pair of two senators expressed half-baked ideas to keep POGOs in the country. Sen. Imee Marcos, who has aligned with the Dutertes, argued to keep them but only after imbuing them with a strong resolve and social responsibility to provide revenues to the ailing national economy. She did not give details on how it could be pursued, but offer the general statement that the government should only kick the POGOs out of the country, if they are proven to have failed to yield positive contributions.

 

Tolentino, another rabid Duterte ally, sounded part of Duterte’s echo chamber, saying that should the Marcos government close down those POGOs and ban them on national soil, the government should have a transition plan to relocate the workers. Social media netizens criticized Tolentino for his ill-conceived proposal because most POGOs employ Chinese nationals because their main market is China. The few Filipino workers are left to do menial jobs. His proposal hardly gained traction except laughter and harsh words.

 

The POGOs existence came into national consciousness after PAOCC, with help from other uniformed personnel, raided on March 13, the POGO complex owned by Zun Yuan Technology, Inc. in its headquarters at A1 Commercial Bldg. in the town of Bamban in Tarlac. “It was a raid,” the PAOCC said. “It was a shakedown,“ said Zun Yuan, which claimed it was done without any coordination with the Bamban Police Department. Later, the entire Bamban police force was relieved and replaced by a new batch of police officers.

 

Zun Yuan was one of the IGLs based in the country. It operated electronic cockfighting matches and various forms of e-gambling operations for patrons in China. The PAOCC composite team of law enforcers raided the Bamban POGO complex on the basis of a search warrant issued by a judge in Bulacan Regional Trial Court (RTC). Zun Yuan claimed the raiding team only found low-caliber guns that security guards usually possess and not assault weapons as claimed by the raiding team.

 

The PAOCC conducted the March 13 raid on the basis of a complaint of a Vietnamese employee, who claimed to law authorities of maltreatment allegedly committed by managers and their henchmen in its operations. The raid subsequently led to the unmasking of Alice Guo, the mayor of Bamban, who authorized the POGO operations.

 

Guo has been suspended by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for giving unauthorized license to Zun Yuan to operate. Zun Yuan alleged it did not violate the law because Pagcor gave it a provisional Internet Gaming License sometime in Oct., 2023. PAOCC closed its operations for good.

 

Consequently, the Senate on Hontiveros’s initiative called an inquiry “in aid of legislation” on POGO operations in the country, and Guo was among the public officials, who were called to explain Zun Yuan’s operations. The firm has established its complex at the back of the Bamban municipal hall. Guo’s testimony before the investigating lawmakers had many holes, raising questions if she was a genuine Filipino.

 

The Senate inquiry “in aid of legislation” raised many questions on how Guo was elected a mayor official of Bamban. Guo appeared to have failed to convince the Senate that she is indeed a Filipino. She failed to answer adequately questions on her personal life, including parentage, education, and how she grew up in Tarlac to become an elected official.

 

Rodolfo Medrano, a critic, said in his social media accountd: “It appears now that the Alice Guo-POGO scandal is just the tip of the iceberg of a much bigger POGO crime syndicate controlled by Chinese crime lords in collaboration with local crime syndicates. The POGO-web also involves politicians, government agency employees, and local businessmen."

 

While the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, was busy investigating Guo and the Bamban POGO complex, the PAOCC was planning a much bigger raid on the entire POGO hub not just in one town or city but Central Luzon. The raid involved the 100-hectare Lucky South 99 complex facility that overlaps in the town of Porac and Angeles City in Pampanga. For five weeks, the PAOCC and its allied law enforcement agencies planned the raids in the sprawling facility that houses 46 buildings.

 

On June 4, the raid took place both in a POGO complex facility in the adjoining town of Porac and Angeles City. It almost did not occur because Judge Ma. Belinda Rama of Branch 14 of Malolos Regional Trial Court (RTC) suspended the search warrant in the morning of June 5. She said its suspension came after she failed to list down what would be searched. It would have been tantamount to a “general search warrant,” according to Casio.  In the afternoon of June 5, Rama withdrew it.

 

The PAOC C found Judge Robert Alexander Malig of Branch 45 of San Fernando City RTC, who promptly issued a new search warrant, which the PAOCC used in its raid against Lucky South 99. What was deswcribed an “internal leak” caused concern since it somehow “compromised’ the raid, according to Casio in another media forum.

 

The raid on POGO complex in Porac-Angeles City area yielded many details that could reveal the extent of the Chinese controlled POGOs’ influence in the country. Hours before the 8 pm raid, owners and managers of that POGO complex disappeared, obviously pointing to a tip-off they received purportedly from the law enforcers involved in the raiding team.

 

They PAOC determined they knew the raid, Casio said. The issue of leaked information is being looked into by the PAOCC, according to Casio.

 

Hontiveros said in a statement that the raid, although conducted with thoroughness and zeal, exposed what she called “heinous” crimes like scamming, torture, and human trafficking. The raid rescued nearly 190 foreign nationals, who worked there. Among them is a company called Lucky South 99, whose application to operate as an IGL was denied in May. Its premises were reported by the PAOCC to be “the biggest facility in Pampanga with a reported total number of 46 buildings including villas and other structures, as well as a golf course.”

 

On June 5, the Senate held an executive session, which was participated by Hontiveros, Gatchalian, and several senators and top officials of state agencies that perform functions related to national security like National Security Council (NSC), Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLOC), Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and least known agencies like Inter-agency Council against Trafficking. The discussed among other things the crimes allegedly committed in and associated with POGOs. They included crimes like cyberscamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, illegal detention, among others. 

 

As narrated by Hontiveros, the executive session somehow crystallized the suggestion that the NSC initiates the elevation to the Office of the President of the issues against POGOs into a threat to national security. In a media forum, Casio confirmed the suggestion, indicating  the PAOCC agreed to the proposed elevation.

 

If they have become threats to national security, the Marcos administration is expected to come out with stringent policies, which could include their virtual dismantling of their operations here and expulsion from the country. At the moment, it could be asserted that they are being keenly watched by state agencies dealing with national security. 

 

The executive session discussed the illegal revenue flows of those POGOs, confirming the view that this is an issue which was closely being monitored by the AMLC along with ISAPF. They were looking particularly the involvement of Guo and other POGOs into the money laundering schemes, Hontiveros said. She noted the prevalent view that Guo had failed to prove she is indeed a Filipino national. The overriding suspicion is that she is a Chinese national, who has been planted by China as an agent to influence the course of political developments here.

 

The subsequent search operations on the June 4 raid of the Lucky South 99 facility yielded surprising discoveries, which included the following:

 

-           The PAOCC raiding team expected to have rescued at least 1,000 foreign workers, but found out only about nearly 190 workers, as the other including its owners and managers disappeared in the dark of the night presumably because of the leaked information.

-           The rescued foreign workers were mostly Chinese with a sprinkling of other foreigners from neighboring countries like Malaysians; Vietnamese, and Burmese nationals. Some workers came from the Bamban POGO facility but transferred to the other facility when the former was raided and subsequently closed down.

-           The raiding team has yet to complete the search in all 46 buildings in the complex, but so far, they finished half of them and found out some incriminating pieces of evidence to indicate dubious operations. They found out broken baseball bats to show they could have been used to torture certain workers. At least three rooms have blood stains to show they were used as torture chambers by unidentified people involved in their operations.

-           Certain rooms were discovered to have illegal drugs to indicate drug trafficking in the facility and frequent use among workers to sustain nighttime operations. Certain rooms were found to have sex toys and other paraphernalia to indicate prostitution there.

-           The raiding team also found uniforms of China’s People’ Liberation Army (PLA), to indicate the connection of certain workers to China’s military.

-           One of the arrested foreign nationals was a Chinese workers, who was identified as a fugitive in mainland China.

 

The bureaucratic machinery has been mobilized to establish the extent of Chinese infiltration to the country’s body politic. So far, it has been established China’s presence and influence through the POGOs here.

 

It has been established the many aspects of Chinese criminal activity here. The evolution of a state policy on POGOs here is an ongoing initiative. It points to a consensus to ban them, but certain elements could throw a monkey wrench to favor stricter and more stringent rules to keep. Their attitude has been predicted. Those POGOs siphon Chinese money out of China, not ours. #

Septuagenarian's Notes (6) - LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS (LDRs)

BY BA IPE

THE classical propinquity theory in the discipline of sociology, a branch of social science, says physical distance determines human interaction. The closer the physical distance, the more intimate and personal the human interaction is. Please notice husbands and wives, dating couples, parents and their children, teachers and their students. Because of sheer distance, the interplay of emotions could be intense and passionate among them. Separate them physically and human interaction is adversely affected. Hence, propinquity theory has withstood the test of time. It has remained a fundamental theory in human behavior. Its validity is beyond any shadow of doubt.

Two major inventions in the early part of the 20th century have affected – or revolutionized – human interaction. The first is cars. The mass introduction of cars had  enabled men to conquer space at that time. Men and women alike  were no longer confined to their homes, offices, schools, and town centers. They could move around with new found freedom associated with their cars. With cars , their behavioral patterns had greatly altered.

With cars, people had started to enjoy freedom. They could move with lesser restrictions and go to other places they never went before. Human relations was greatly changed too. It was easy to relate to people in other towns, cities, and states. Human interaction became more  intense. Romance too. The car had come to define human behavior, including interaction.

The second is the coming of the radio. It was the first broadcast medium, which uses the airwaves to transmit information. The second was television which came 35 years later. The emergence of radio – and television – has constituted broadcast media, which enhanced human interaction. The sociologist Daniel Bell said mass communications has led to the  emergence of what he termed “mass society.” Mass media has shaped human behavior, especially interaction, on the basis of what they have heard or seen over the two broadcast media platforms.

Fast forward to 2000. The invention of digital technology and the gadgets associated with it and the emergence of Information Revolution have triggered the ascendancy of nontraditional media, which is different from either print or broadcast media. The use of cyberspace has led to the integration of mass communications platforms, leading to the nontraditional media, including social media.

This means altering the already complicated human behavior, particularly the interaction side. It conquers both time and space. Messages among people from different cultures could be sent and obtained in real time, further erasing restrictive barriers. It is easier to communicate with people in other countries and cultures. Space and time have been transcended with nontraditional media.

Thus, intimate relations can be cultivated even in cross cultural settings. Now, we see the advent of long-term relations, where men and women use nontraditional platforms to create intimacy. The old adage that long distance relationships does not work is being shattered by the new technology platform and the popular will to create new relationships by this new paradigm shift.

There are no empirical data to support assertions to prove or disprove the importance of long distance relations, or LDRs. But the absence does not mean, LDRs are not with us . It s very much with us. They are alive and kicking.

I’ve been told that LDRs work in some instances. In other instances, they don’t. The point is that LDR is with us. Human interaction is a function of technological advances. LDRs will stay with us in the coming months, years, and decades. From a humanistic viewpoint, main is incomplete without the other half. He will invent new things to invite, entice, and keep the other half.

The proliferation of fraud is the single, biggest enemy of LDRs. During the early days of online technology, a number of love struck Filipino women fell victims to a bunch of foreign Lotharios, who promised to give the moon and stars. Mostly these Romeos were of questionable nationalities. It was later found out they were mostly Nigerians or Malaysians, who operated or have been operating in some Internet cafes in their countries.

How these Romeos of questionable credentials had victimized some hapless Pinays was a lesson in naivete. At that time, many Pinays were thrilled to have foreigners as boyfriends without knowing they were scammers of the worst kind. They promised weddings to these Pinays and many Pinays caved in to their demands and requests.  They had the mistaken notion that foreign husbands could be the answer to their wretched condition like helplessness and powerlessness brought by the lack of economic opportunities.

They were the proverbial damsels in distress, who were to be saved by their knights in shining armors, but, in actuality vultures in sheep’s clothing, who were out to take their hard-earned savings. I was personally approached by a fiftyish public school teacher, who claimed to have waited for his Romeo almost the entire day. It was no show for the helpless and powerless, who waited for him at the NAIA. “Namuti ang mga mata ko sa paghihintay (my eyes turned white for waiting),” she told me.

She told me her purported boyfriend took a sizable amount of her savings, which he claimed would be used for visa facilitation and purchase of plane ticket. But after she sent the money, the boyfriend disappeared without any trace. He closed his accounts to her complete discomfiture. She asked me on what to do, but said she did not approach police because she did not trust police officers.

I suggested she approached any of the three broadcast networks so that the issue would be brought out publicly and avert any future scams of similar nature. She did and in the following week, she told me that she was treated shabbily by the networks. Not one of the three networks wanted to take her case as an issue. The staffs even scorned her for naively falling victims to scammers. “Naku Ate, bakit ang tanga mo?” a lowly staff asked her. She told me she was a respected teacher in her school and the lowly staff was hardly a professional.

I told the teacher that she better forget recovering her money. She just fell victim to a swindler. It was estafa, plain and simple. Her case was not an isolated case because there were other cases of scams perpetrated by those Lotharios.     

But there are success stories in LDRs. I have  an older sister who met his British husband through the old pen-pal scheme, where they resorted to the snail pace mail system. After exchanging letters for so long, they got bored and decided to meet.  The British national (an Englishman) went to the Philippines, met my Ate, who was a public school teacher, got smitten by her charm, and married her in a civil wedding ceremony here. I was a witness in their wedding and went to their wedding reception, which was exclusively for relatives and friends.

Their marriage has been holding for more than 30 years.  My brother-in-law is already in his 80s while my Ate is about 74 yo. Their marriage is fairly stable and my brother in law is a frequent visitor here. We occasionally meet and have fun bantering and drinking together.

Concerning the LDRs, using modern digital technology, the case of Eden Pelaez and her boyfriend  Eric Villar. Eden has been a popular netizen, whose opinions and posts are highly valued by netizens in social media. Eric is a professional engineer, who met Eden in social media. Somehow, romance has blossomed between the two netizens, who have been separated from their legal spouses.

The two netizens have ironed out their differences and found themselves they have sufficient bases for keep their relations. They have met in what was called an “eyeball.” Eric traveled more than 500 kilometers south of Metro Manila to meet Eden and her family.

The seriousness was most palpable. It was a relationship that started as an LDR but has bloomed into a full-pledged relationship.

Septuagenarian Notes (5) MEET REYNALDO ROBLES: DEFENSE LAWYER OF SONNY TRILLANES

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

THE defense lawyer who has represented Sonny Trilanes in his court cases over the last 20 years is a volunteer lawyer, who has not billed him for the legal services given him. Lawyer Reynaldo Robles, managing partner of the Chan Robles Law Offices, has been representing him with success in many legal skirmishes in court and even outside the legal arena.

“There were other lawyers, who volunteered to help Sonny Trillanes,” Robles said. “It’s not my monopoly,” he clarified, as he pointed to former University of the Philippines Law dean Perfecto Agabin, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay and a host of young lawyers as the among the volunteer lawyers, who helped the controversial soldier turned politician.

They helped in the discussions, clarifications, and evolution of the legal strategies, issues, and arguments, which were to be presented in court. In the end, a lead lawyer had to file the legal briefs before the court. “It was me,” Robles said.

Robles justified his voluntary action to represent Trillanes, saying “it’s community service,” or his way to give back his “blessings” as a practicing lawyer. As the lead lawyer, Robles prepared and filed before the appropriate court the legal briefs, memoranda, and motions in defense of his controversial client.

In one of his pivotal court cases, Robles successfully defended Trillanes, when the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the Presidential Proclamation 572, which then President Rodrigo Duterte issued on Sept. 8, 2018 to revoke the presidential  amnesty earlier given to Trillanes by then President Benigno Aquino III.

The High Court, in a majority opinion penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh, said that an incumbent President cannot just revoke a grant of amnesty without concurrence from Congress. It cited the Bill of Rights and reaffirmed that neither the government nor any of its officials, including the President, are above the law.

The High Court ruled that the revocation of Trillanes’ amnesty long after it has become final and executory violated his constitutional right to due process. It said the PP 572 violated Trillanes’s constitutional rights against ex post facto laws and the doctrine of double jeopardy.

In hindsight, Robles said the unanimous decision by the Court of Appeals, promulgated on May 31, 2021 but issued on June 9, 2021, was enough since it upheld the presidential power to grant amnesty and stopped unilaterally Duterte from revoking Trillanes’s amnesty and bringing him back to jail. The CA decision, rendered by its 11th Special decision, was penned by Associate Justice Edwin Sorongon, with concurrence from Associate Justices Perpetua Susana Atal-Paño and Raymond Reynold Lauigan.

But the Supreme Court took a step forward by issuing a verdict that settled the constitutional issue of the presidential power to give amnesty, Robles said. “This is most important not only now but for future generations,” Robles said. Students of law would understand that not even the president could violate the Bills of Rights in the 1987 Constitution. It has been customary for the Judiciary to leave to the Supreme Court to settle the issue of constitutionality of any decision, while allowing the lower court to decide on its merits, Robles said.

Its decision is the climax of Trillanes’s tumultuous struggle to clear himself of various court charges. Robles, however, said he and Trillanes were still exploring the possibility of filing countercharges against Duterte and Calida. There is no final decision yet, he said.

Duterte issued PP572 in an attempt to jail anew Trillanes, one of his fiercest critics, since involvement in a coup d’etat is a nonbailable offense. Then Solicitor General Jose Calida was said to have authored the controversial presidential directive. Duterte offered the lame excuse that he merely signed what Calida gave him. Robles filed an urgent motion before the Supreme Court for temporary restraining order (TRO) on the implementation of PP572.

The Supreme Court ordered two Makati City Regional Trial Court judges to hear the issues of PP 572.  Judge Andres Soriano of RTC 148 and Judge Elmo Alameda of RTC 150 issued conflicting decisions. Soriano dismissed PP572, arguing the amnesty granted to Trillanes is final and could not be reopened. Alameda reopened the case, but allowed Trillanes to post bail. This prompted the state prosecutors to bring Soriano’s decision to the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals ruled in Trillanes’s favor, describing as “mental calisthenics” what Duterte did. While the CA effectively sustained Soriano’s decision not to reopen it and stopped Alameda from hearing it, Robles brought the issue to the Supreme Court to settle the constitutional issue of PP 572. The High Court put to rest the issue but not without Robles saying “the government can prosecute but not persecute its critics.”

Reynaldo Robles, 58, is a practicing lawyer with vast experience both in the private and public sectors. He took his primary and secondary education at Don Bosco Academy in Bacolor, Pampanga and Pampanga High School respectively. He took his law course at Far Eastern University (FEU) and placed 10th in the 1990 Bar Exams.

Robles served as legal counsel and advocate for private corporations and public institutions, and several elected and appointed national and local government officials. He served in various capacities in government and private sector.  He served as legal counsel of the late Toots Ople, when she was secetary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). Robles helped in DMW’s streamlining and reorganization from remnants of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Office of Overseas Migrant Workers Affairs (OMWA) of the Department of Foreign Affairs.  

He served as a board member of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) from 2011 to 2017, a state corporation and regulatory body. He was involved in the oversight of all land reclamation projects and activities, as he was chair of the PRA board’s land reclamation committee.

He served as adviser, legal counsel, and legislative consultant to several national and local officials like Blas Ople, Trillanes, Ismael Mathay, Jr., Manny Villar and others. His legislative experience included working in technical working groups (TWG), which crafted final versions of the committee reports and committee bills of Senate and House Bills in the 16th and 17th Congress, a number of which were passed into law.

As founding partner of the law firm of Chan Robles & Associates, he has counseled numerous corporate clients and served as chief legal counsel, corporate secretary and director of over a hundred companies. With partner, the late Joselito Chan, he cofounded the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library in 1996, an Internet-based library which has remained as one of the most popular legal research portal. Robles teaches law subjects in law schools, including FEU.             

Robles was instrumental in the preparation of the first and second information, which Trillanes and Magdalo associate Gary Alejano have filed in 2017 before the International Criminal Court (ICC). The two pieces of information alleged that Duterte and his cohorts committed crimes against humanity in their bloody but failed war on drugs launched in 2016 when Duterte became president. While their legislative lawyers worked on the two information, Robles was instrumental in their drafting, as he one of the lawyers, who gave advice and direction in the case buildup against Duterte and ilk. The late Jude Josue Sabio filed the first information under his name, but it was done to give cover to the guys, who although they worked feverishly on the completion of the two pieces of information, could be subject to harassment.

The first information submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor, had claimed that Duterte, as mayor of Davao City, and, later, as president, was engaged in the mass murder of people suspected to have been involved in the use and trade of prohibited drugs. It claimed that, for the interest of international criminal justice, the ICC, through its Office of the Prosecutor, should proceed to conduct a preliminary investigation on the reported mass murder on the basis of the facts laid down by the information and details given by the international human rights groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. It raised the possibility to bring the issue to the next step after preliminary investigation, which is the formal investigation by the ICC.

The first information prepared by the Magdalo and their legislative staffs and reviewed by Robles has two major divisions: the first part described the rise of Duterte and his DDS, when he was mayor of Davao City; the second part covered the use of the Davao City-made DDS template on the national level. The first information sufficiently covered the period 1988 to 2016, when the DDS came into prominence, as Duterte used his liquidation squads to kill criminal elements and political rivals in the southern port city. But it lacked the desired details, specifically when Duterte became president and adopted the Davao City template on a national scale.

Hence, Trillanes and Alejano worked on the second information, which is to complement and bolster the first information. They personally submitted it to the ICC headquarters in The Hague. This time, Sabio was no longer involved, but Robles gave valuable legal advice because it involved criminal law as it contained specific cases of murder by police officers and vigilante forces. #

Septuagenarian's Notes (4)

 By Ba Ipe (April 12, 2024)

 ON SMOKING E-CIGARETTES, VAPING

 In the April 11 youth roundtable discussions on tobacco regulation policies in the country, I came to understand that smoking and vaping are one dog with two different collars. From the discussions of three resource persons in a forum attended by young people, smoking and vaping are being promoted and nurtured by tobacco companies to give the same deleterious effects to smokers and vapers alike.

One of the discussants, Dr. Riz Gonzalez, chair of the Tobacco Control Advocacy Group of the Philippine Pediatric Society, likened by analogy that smoking and vaping is no different from jumping off from the same building. “What difference will it make if you jump off from the 40^th floor of a building or the 10^th floor of the same building?” she mused before a crowd of young journalists, students, and public servants. “You’ll end up dead anyway with your body mangled beyond recognition.”

The other discussants were Dr. Maricar Limpin, chair of the steering committee of the Philippine Coalition on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, and Au Quilala, advocacy and partnerships manager of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development. The roundtable forum was hosted by Vital Strategies, an NGO.

The forum tackled the pressing issues on the promotion of vapes and e-cigarettes among young people. Just a personal note: Despite my advanced age of 70, I was fortunate to be invited to participate. It gave me a pleasure to interact with young people. “Anyway, I was once a young person like you,” I said. It was my way to lighten the situation and squeeze in the discussions.

The discussants noted that with the vape and e-cigarette industry targeting Filipino youth, turning the country into a manufacturing hub for e-cigarettes puts the nation at risk of an epidemic of EVALI, or e-cigarette or vape-associated lung injury. “According to the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey, one out of every seven Filipino youth aged 13-15 is now using vapes. This alarming trend is not a coincidence but a result of the tobacco industry’s calculated marketing tactics targeting the youth,” said Limpin.

“We’ll not sit idly by and turn a blind eye to the predatory practices of this industry. By allowing the Philippines to position itself as a manufacturing hub, we are essentially paving the way for an EVALI epidemic,” Limpin said According to her, the PHL has at least seven recorded EVALI cases, but the number could go up suddenly as many young people develop addiction to the substances and chemicals used in vaping products.

EVALI is a medical condition that causes lung damage from the substances and other chemicals contained in vaping products. It is different from lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the two diseases associated with smoking. But the discussants said EVALI patients tend to be younger people. While cancer and CPD usually develop to smokers in their 40s, EVALI strikes even those, who are in their 20s or younger.

There are no available data on deaths and injuries arising from use of vaping products herer, but the discussants feared an equally sudden rise of EVALI cases here because of increased vape activity. Shortly before the outbreak of the global pandemic, or sometime in Nov., 2019, the Department of Health (DoH) reported the first EVALI case in the country – a 16-year old girl from the Visayas, who was using both cigarettes and vape. In 2020, or shortly the pandemic, the U.S. has more than 3,000 reported EVALI cases with 66 deaths.

For her part, Quilala spoke on the necessity to revisit the existing public policies on vaping, which the possible return to 21 years from the current 18 years the legal age to vape and the mandate for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), not the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, to regulate vaping in the country. She also called for stricter implementation of the vaping laws and regulations.

Gonzales, meanwhile, debunked what manufacturers claimed that vaping is risk free and that it could be a good alternative to smoking. That was the line being propagated by e-cigarette and vape product manufacturers, she said. It was because data were limited during the pre-pandemic days, she said.

But when further researches were made and data have tickled it, using e-cigarettes and vaping could be equally as dangerous as smoking, she said. Manufacturers have been using substances and chemicals that could cause addition and lead to debilitating effects to the user’s health, she said. This was something that was not exactly considered by policymakers.

The three discussants agreed on the perceived existence of a strong pro-vaping lobby to favor the use of e-cigarettes and vaping products. They also agreed to the perception that they have been employing “trickery” to influence the policymakers. #

SEPTUAGENARIAN'S NOTES (3)

By Ba Ipe (April 11, 2024)

GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

IT was my first time to attend a marriage renewal ceremony. I did not know a damn thing about its nature, mechanics, and commitment. I was fortunate to be invited by netizen friend Gilbert “Bing” Mayores to attend his marriage renewal ceremony with wife Erma in the middle class Marikina City. It was their 50th wedding anniversary. It was held last Saturday, or on April 6.

Going to the renewal ceremony was an ordeal for an old man like me (am 70 yo). I got lost in the urban jungle of Marikina City. As a long-time Kyusi resident, I’m not familiar with this shoe capital city. To make the long story short, I arrived late at the Church ceremony. But I took the matter into my own hands and went straight to the reception restaurant in another barangay. I arrived on time as the reception ceremony was about to start.

I met Bing and Erma, family, and friends. I sat next to Bing’s classmate and childhood mate and best friend, the prominent retired Ambassador Shulan Primavera, a career diplomat who represented the country’s mission in Egypt, Indonesia, and Kuwait, his wife, and brother Noel, and several other friends. We had grand time exchanging notes. But that was another story.

The reception ceremony started with a Christian pastor, whose name I did not get, leading another marriage renewal ceremony. I was astonished to learn in his preceremony remarks that the phrase “till death do us part” was essentially a biblical phrase in the Book of Ruth and that the phrase was mentioned by the husband not to his wife but to his in-laws.

The ceremony proceeded smoothly with the pastor, asking a series of three questions to reaffirm and reconfirm the couple’s undying commitment to keep the marriage until their last breath. I could only heave a sigh of surprise on what appears to be the ultimate necessity for reaffirmation on a marriage that has been working over the last fifty years.

The approach was a superfluity, although I have kept my distance and avoided unnecessary comment. But I was deeply impressed by the solemnity of the occasion. I could only marvel at the couple’s will to continue and keep what they pledged fifty years ago. What dawned on me was the strength of the couple's determination to finish on a high note what they have started many moons ago.

I saw Bing and Erma’s kids and partners, and grandkids too taking the center stage during the reception ceremony to indicate what I could describe a basically happy marriage. They wore those smiles to show their love and care for the couple on that special occasion. I’m reminded by what Ann Landers, an American advice columnist, said: “Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset.”

Of course, the marriage renewal ceremony had the usual clichés restating that it is a function of years of the couple’s struggle to weather all the storms in their marriage. The couple was more than glad to reconfirm that theirs is a never smooth sailing process and the moments of trepidation and bewilderment have their funny and tragic share during the course of their union.

On that note, I could say in my heart what the French author once said: “A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.” I could only raise my glass of wine to toast Bing and Erma’s fulfilling marriage. #

Septuagenarian’s Notes (2)

By Ba Ipe

(April 4, 2024)

ON TURNING 70

AN apocryphal post by a netizen-friend is most poignant and touching: “Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.” True. Reaching 70 is a privilege. It’s a blessing by all means. But it entails imperatives. What if I reach 70? What do I intend to do?

In my case, I’ve encountered serious introspection. Now that I’m 70, what follows? What’s next? This introspection is tantamount for setting goals in the last quarter of my life. Frankly, I want to end everything not with a bang like the suicide bombers of some Middle East countries or the mad assassins in the U.S., who shoot and kill every person in sight for no apparent reason. I want to end it my way, so the old song goes.

I’m healthy at 70. Except for back pains caused by sciatica when I had an accident in mid-20s, I’ve no other health issues. My heart is pumping well. My blood does not get sweeter unlike others. I urinate well because my prostate is not huge to block its flow. I savor the sweet sound of my favorite songs and ogle at the beauty of every passing woman. Except for the loss of hair in my mid-20s, I’m a winner of the genetic lottery.

Moreover, my thought process is intact. I still remember the many details that have happened in my life. My memory remains keen – almost pornographic, er, er photographic. I am always proud of my functioning and intact memory, which I ably used in my journalistic career. I can still use it even if I settle for a second career n retirement.

In my estimate, I’m good for another ten or 15 years. If I am a little lucky, I could follow the way of my Ingkong Nick, my diminutive maternal grandfather, who took life at his own terms. He did not get sick all through the years. When he felt it was time to go, he just quit living and died in his sleep at 96. He was never a burden to his kids. I don’t intend to reach the sweet centennial age and earn a windfall of P100,000.

Frankly, I have come to terms that I’ve reached 70, an age that could be the start of being a real senior citizen. They say it’s the “senior of the seniors,” or just “very senior,” to be exact. Hence, I’ve set goals, which I expect to fulfill in the coming years. Since writing is my training and skill, I intend to use it to fulfill my objectives.

I intend to focus on bookwriting, aiming to finish at least three books this year. I’ve finished the first and printed copies came out in December last year – “KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et Al.” My first book is a documentation of the bloody but failed war on drugs of the madman from the South. It is now undergoing second printing and new copies will come out in May.

I am finishing my second book – “BUMPS Fifty Years of Dictatorship and Democracy in the Philippines (1972-2022).” I expect to complete it by the end of this month. My second book chronicles the events that transpired on the conflicting themes of authoritarianism (or dictatorship) and democracy over the last 50 years of our political history. Printed copies could come out by July this year.

Immediately after the completion of my second book, I intend to work on the third book, which is the compilation of my posts – serious, sarcastic, humorous, or borderline – over the last 15 years I was in social media. The materials are readily available. All I have to do is to sort them out in the three or four months and a book is in the offing. It has no title yet.

I intend to write two or books for 2025 and one of them could dwell on the peace talks between the Philippine government and the outlawed National Democratic Front (NDF) and the various forces under its wings. It is an open and close negotiations and I intend to document the peace process. It is still up in the air. Nothing is final yet.

There is an old adage that the prize of life is when a person does the things he loves most. I love writing. It’s the only thing that I know best. My thinking at the moment is to use my skill to document what has happened in this country. Since so many people are obsessed to document a big part of our history. I intend to fill that gap.

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SEPTUAGENARIAN'S NOTES

 (April 3, 2024)

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Japan’s military governors in the PHL

Japan occupied the Philippines for three and a half years during the Second World War. In 1942-1945, Japan had four Japanese military governors: Masaharu Homma; Shizuichi Tanaka; Shigenori Kuroda; and Tomoyuki Yamashita. The High Command in Tokyo appeared not satisfied with the performance of the first three military governors. This explained they did not last long in their posts.

Unbeknown to many Filipinos, the four military governors had overseas stints as Japan’s military attaches in several countries like the United States and British India. Homma, the most senior, served as a military attache in United Kingdom. Kuroda was a military attache in U. K. (England) and British India, while Tanaka served as one in Mexico and the U.S. Tanaka studied English literature in Oxford University, mastering in Shakespearean works. Yamashita served as military attache in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Except Yamashita, who spoke fluent German, the three military governors were proficient in English.

Contrary to popular beliefs, the four military governors were not cruel or hard-driving military generals, who ordered or tolerated abuses by the Japan Imperial Army soldiers, a number of whom were Korean and Taiwanese conscripts, who were given Japanese names and assigned here. They had differing temperaments to indicate their high education. Despite the rise of Japanese militarism during their time, they were assigned here under varying circumstances.

The task to conquer the Philippines fell on Gen. Homma, the first military governor. Because he failed to deliver PHL surrender on time, he was said to have derailed Japan’s overall timetable to conquer East Asia. Homma was an Army general, who was said to be against abuses by his soldiers. Homma presided over the Battle of Bataan, where Filipinos and American soldiers fought with unparalleled ferocity to delay the Japanese advancement here.

Because of the atrocities committed in the Bataan-Tarlac “death march,” Homma underwent trial and was convicted and hanged in 1946. Scholars later found out that Homma was engaged in bitter power struggle with fellow generals who opposed his predominantly Western values in the conduct of war and lenient attitude toward civilians. His fellow officers gave Tokyo negative reports about his performance in the Philippines leading to huis relief immediately after the May 6, 1942 fall of Corregidor.

Tanaka replaced Homma days after the surrender of Corregidor, where the last American and Filipino soldiers held out. Tanaka was a serious, old school soldier, who became the hero of the August 15, 1945 rebellion of middle ranking officers to oppose Japan’s surrender to the U.S. Tanaka president over the consolidation of Japanese forces here. Tanaka’s tenure here lasted only nine months after he contracted malaria here and went back to Japan to recuperate. He committed suicide when Japan surrendered.

Kuroda replaced Tanaka and led in the participation of Filipino leaders in Japan’s Occupation. It was under the tenure of this reputed fun-loving general that the Japanese sponsored Philippine Republic emerged. Kuroda nurtured Jose P. Laurel Sr. and other Filipino leaders like Jorge Vargas, Camilo Osias, among others. He was the longest serving Japanese military governor at 14 months.

But Kuroda was known for his womanizing ways. He was said to have fallen into the charms of several beautiful Filipino women, some of whom were movie actresses and entertainers. He was reported to have hosted parties, of which his superiors in Tokyo did not appreciate. Because he became notorious for his hedonistic and complacent ways, he was recalled in Tokyo and given an inconsequential assignment toward the end of the war. He was extradited to face trial here, but was given amnesty in 1952 by then President Elpidio Quirino. He died in the same year.

Yamashita, who earned the reputation as “Tiger of Malaya,” because he led the Japanese forces to press for the surrender of much bigger and powerful British soldiers in the Malay Peninsula, took over in 1944 at the waning days of the Japanese occupation and American Liberation forces about to land here. Contrary to popular beliefs, Yamashita was not the general responsible for the spate of abuses committed by Japanese soldiers at the 1945 Battle of Manila.

The responsibility for these misdeeds fell on Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, who commanded the Japanese Imperial Navy forces, which took over Manila after Yamashita’s Army forces retreated to the Cordilleras in northern Luzon. Under the Japanese military structure, the Japanese Imperial Army is separate from the Japanese Imperial Navy. Iwabuchi forces committed the Manila Massacre, where about 100,000 persons died during the pivotal Battle of Manila in 1945.

Iwabuchi committed suicide when it was certain that his forces faced defeat toward the end of the Battle of Manila. Yamashita, meanwhile, underwent trial after he surrendered towards the end of the war. He was hanged in 1946. Yamashita was more famous for the alleged treasures he looted in Malaya and Singapore, which he took when he was assigned here. The four Japanese military governors were said to be highly educated. They were not barbarians as painted by some irresponsible and uninformed quarters.#