Neri is a stumbling block to an all-crony monopoly of the ports (Even Poro Point is now under Chavit Singson/Ortega tie-up PPMC after muscling-out the operator PPDC there). Neri wants to introduce Regis Romero into container and bulk, Razon says, “Over my dead body”.

More info from the blogs of maritimewatchkeeper and tongueinanew at Blogger

I seemed to recall that salaries of senior executives and the Monetary Board were hiked back then because of profits from revaluations of the detriorating peso. Now that it has reversed…….

Quite right, but they are allowed to participate in deals like ZTE/NBN . Why would our greedy officials share a piece of the pie with businessmen unless they had to?

From:
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Monday, October 1, 2007

Romy bared many frightening things when he called me morning of Apr. 20. I had written that the government was rushing to award the ZTE contract the next day in Boao, China, and that the NEDA, which he headed then, had approved the overpriced telecoms supply in a huff. Before I could ask anything, Romy blurted three items in succession: “This deal was the handiwork of Ricky Razon and Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos … I warned President Arroyo about this, and also told Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. … Abalos tried to bribe me P200 million.”

Creative funding in April, when the campaign was running out of money?

The initial leak to Bondoc at that time to signal that the coalition partner was unhappy about how the funds had been spent, and who the money was being spent on?

The explicit revelations in the Senate are quite different from blind items in a newspaper column.

I think that we may be looking at a divorce in process.

oh, i forgot! the rest of the commissioners tainted by Mega Pacific are still on!

perhaps Merceditas will be “promoted” or “demoted” (depending on ur view) to the COMELEC. ah nightmares of nightmares! there were votes but there were no voters.

Some of the ZTE/NBN kickback was part of the payment to the recently resigned for the 2007 elections.

Some of the “excess” funds were also earmarked to repay advances made by businessmen in the recent election campaigns.

Think of it as a refinement of the fertilizer scam, where campaign funds are borrowed against “corruption futures”.

One side of the coalition felt that the resigned did not deliver the required results, and therefore was not entitled to his share in ZTE/NBN. There may also be some disagreements as to how the campaign funds were spent. The word kupit springs to mind.

Back room discussions by the coalition partners did not result in any consensus about what to do to resolve the situation.

At this point, it is decided that he-who-is-on-terminal-leave is to be made to suffer for his failure. Proxies from that side of the coalition blow him out of the water and smash the ZTE/NBN cookie jar.

This also sends a shot across the bows of the Ship-of-State, about the need to sit down and make a deal with its coalition partners.

Businessmen who have advanced money for the campaign are naturally upset. This is over and beyond the obligatory campaign contributions (non-returnable) that they made. They were expecting to have these advances repaid in the next few months.

All is not lost however. Other projects are still on track as of now.

A deal will be reached soon. This little imbroglio will be over by Xmas.

1. The President refuses to accept the formal resignation of Abalos ( if ever there is one)so it gives way to the two pronged reason I mentioned, dodging the impeachment and availing of the immunity from lawsuit for the meantime.Abalos is silent about Apostol’s declaration he is not contravening it.

2. It is unconstitutional to appoint or designate any commissioner in a temporary or acting capacity.The designation of Borra as OIC will be questioned if the Chairman is deemed resigned but it will be perfectly legal if the Chairman is just taking a leave of absence.

3. The President for whatever reason or expediency will appoint someone that has her “trust and confidence” but for now there are no takers mainly because the newly appointed Chairman will just be serving the unexpired term of his predecessor(Abalos will be retiring early 2008). This is perhaps the reason why Supreme Court Justice Dante Tinga is not interested if ever he will be chosen right now to replace Abalos.Hence, the theory of “implied resignation” is plausible.

Well not surprised why Arroyo now wants a law to protect “military secrets” all of a sudden!

Inquirer reports Arroyo wants law to protect military secrets

The Inquirer reports that Mrs Arroyo has just ordered the AFP and the DND to help craft laws that will safeguard “military secrets” just as the Senate probes were getting underway into allegations that the military wiretapped Arroyo’s phone and other personalities during the 2004 election period that has come to be known as the “Hello Garci” scandal.

Perhaps, this is the reason why the AFP has repeatedly snubbed Senate summons for top military brass to appear before the “Hello Garci” hearings. They have been crafting this plan all along!

Three things come to my mind right off the bat on why Arroyo wants a law crafted that will “protect military secret” — never mind if we don’t have a law yet to that effect as in other countries where certain military secrets are covered by secret service acts approved by Parliament in the case of European countries and Congress in the US, but what is strange is that Arroyo suddenly turns around after years at the helm just when the probes into the election cheatings in 2004 are going full blast today.