Summer season back then for me was usually a trip to historical monuments like Mt. Samat in Pilar, Bataan, or my hometown of Gerona, Tarlac. Sometimes, it’s just a short walk to an inflatable pool in my backyard.
Several years ago, I met a man who used to work for the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in that province. He said that if it was indeed operated to generate electricity, the now white elephant could have somehow solved the power crisis then. Well, that was then.
The BNPP was a victim of the Cory Aquino regime which pursued relentlessly the case against Westinghouse which, it claimed, bribed (allegedly) the late President Marcos into granting it the contract, Aquino’s people, retained by the Ramos administration, pressed for the pursuit of the case.
That government should have considered a compromise settlement offered by Westinghouse. The Ramos administration did not listen either to proposals to use the nuclear plant to alleviate the power shortage then.
In short, the Ramos government adopted the Aquino government’s policy of revenge against the Marcoses in the Westinghouse case. The faces of all these people were red after a US court had ruled against the Philippines which spent millions of dollars to press on with the case.
But only the US lawyers hired by the PH government were happy since raking in quite a hefty sum in legal fees. Two former associates of the late Herminio Disini who brokered the nuclear power plant deal for Westinghouse denied that Disini acted as “front man” for Marcos, or that Disini gave Marcos part of the legal commissions which the government then described as bribe money.
However, the most absurd comment from the previous regimes on the defeat of the Westinghouse bribery case is the claim that some American jurors may have been bribed by Westinghouse.
The government then simply had a weak case. It could not prove that former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had been bribed by Westinghouse.
That’s that. There was no need to put up a smokescreen to hide the failure on their part. Imagine, some officials then were even thinking of filing treason charges against Filipinos who testified that Marcos
never received any bribe.
And by the way, who was that mystery party who convinced the Philippine government to hire certain American lawyers who were paid over a billion pesos in legal fees?
That mystery party presumably received a vast fortune in referral fees.
In summing up, the government got burned in that case. Only the American lawyers and the mystery part who made such a referral and an assortment of government lawyers who enjoyed going to the US to litigate the case were happy as a clam, laughing their way to the bank.
The Cory Aquino regime is to be blamed for this mess. It never wanted an amicable out-of-court settlement proposed by Westinghouse. But instead, it chose to press the case out of a vengeful hatred toward the Marcoses.
Sounds familiar to this very day, doesn’t it?
At ease with atis?
I chuckle at the thought of developers locating raw land filled with fruit-bearing trees, cut them all down, build a subdivision, and then name its streets after those trees like Atis, Chico, Manga, Kasoy, Santol, etc.
I wasn’t pertaining to any specific developer, but you get my drift. Land developers in the country have gotten the ire of the public because of poor planning on the part of the developer.
And it’s always during the rainy seasons when problems appear like excess flooding, clogged drainage systems like canals, and spillways. The absence of long-range planning occurs when greedy developers just want to make a fast buck.
I hope we can come up with a no-
nonsense plan for the metropolis especially when “the big one” has not yet arrived.
First, a thorough inspection of our edifices and office buildings must be done to ensure the safety of occupants. I say this because of the growing number of condominium high-rise buildings.
They’re as plentiful as the rapid increase of underbone motorcycles now on our thoroughfares.
Ship of state
Back in 1991, the Aquino regime agreed to allow Taiwanese ships to pass Philippine Sea lanes on their way to the Pacific Ocean, and also to permit Taiwanese fishermen (poachers) to fish in Philippine waters.
All in exchange for five fishing vessels and some help from Taipei to study soil destruction from the Mount Pinatubo ashfall.
Unbelievable.
So where were these so-called nationalists then? These pseudo-patriots who dreaded a return of a Marcos in Malacañang. Serves you right.
Well, it’s a good thing that this surrender of sovereignty didn’t cause a diplomatic crisis with China who could have flexed her mighty muscles on us for violating the One-China Policy – and then run to Uncle Sam again crying for help.
However, times are different today with that controversial ‘gentleman’s agreement’ besmirching Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called legacy. The onslaught of the Chinese boats on Filipino fishermen is a thing we cannot just take sitting down.
But we must also exhaust all possible diplomatic solutions to address this obvious bullying by a mighty expansionist nation over a tiny archipelago.
It’s a good thing that PBBM rescinded that ‘gentleman’s agreement ’recently and to know more about the contents of such an agreement. This is important as it certainly involves the nation’s sovereignty rights over those disputed territories, and thank God we have the UNCLOS on our side.
Nevertheless, we continue to support President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to continue being present on the negotiating table while seeking partnerships with our friends from the region.