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Monday, December 29, 2003
Davide ordeal is top story in 2003
THE centers of power nearly clashed. And a favorite son of Cebu was tested. The impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. is Sun.Star Cebu’s top story of the year. To look back at it is to retrace a story that held people’s attention and drew impassioned reactions more than any other event did in 2003.
It began when a third of the House of Representatives, mostly from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, filed an impeachment complaint against the chief justice last Oct. 23, claiming alleged misuse of court fees earmarked for personnel benefits.
Cebu’s business leaders urged the Senate to handle the impending impeachment trial “with extreme caution” lest it cause a “far-reaching economic crisis.”
Cebuanos took note that two Cebuanos signed the impeachment complaint: Reps. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz and Reps. Ace Durano.
But the Supreme Court, voting 13-1, ruled last Nov. 10 that the impeachment complaint was unconstitutional, as it was already the second against the chief justice this year. An earlier complaint came from lawyers of deposed president Joseph Estrada.
In a session that lasted until daybreak of Nov. 11, the House voted, 115-77, to abide by the Supreme Court’s decision and abandon the impeachment bid.
How did the Cebuanos vote? Four were for abiding by the High Court: Reps. Emerito Calderon, Antonio Cuenco, Raul del Mar and Clavel Asas-Martinez.
Durano and Soon-Ruiz stood their ground and voted to push through with the impeachment proceedings. Simeon Kintanar and Antonio Yapha abstained. Jose Gullas was absent.
Beyond dividing the country, the impeachment issue provoked many discussions on transparency—including the accountability of lawmakers who control millions in pork barrel funds. Many wondered how such a simple word as “initiate” could provoke various interpretations in congressional orations.
Like the Estrada impeachment of 2001, this year’s impeachment served as a crash course of sorts in civics, particularly the separation of powers and the functions (or failings) of congressional oversight.
We will remember its scenes and feel its effects for years to come.
2. Leyte landslides
Close to 200 were declared dead or missing in Southern Leyte, where a week of rain triggered landslides that buried villages in mud last Dec. 19.
The environment department blamed a “confluence of factors”: record amounts of rain, steep slopes, highly fractured rocks, failure to keep human settlements away from hazardous areas, permanent conversion of forest lands, lack of serious land use planning for disaster-prone areas.
But for the victims, the picture is less abstract. At least 3,600 persons homeless. Entire families lost. A village they can no longer live in, now converted into a mass grave.
The Cebu Provincial Board has approved the release of P2 million in aid for Leyte, taken from the Capitol’s calamity funds. Volunteers gave up a much-awaited Christmas break to help round up donations of food, clothes and cash for the victims.
Learning from Leyte, a Cebu City Hall official is now proposing a study to map out geological hazards in Cebu, as a means of preventing similar disasters.
3. Gloria-FPJ showdown
Less than eight weeks separated their announcements to seek the presidency. But the reactions were worlds apart.
It did not come as much of a surprise when President Arroyo announced on Oct. 4, in her home province of Pampanga, that she will run for office in 2004.
Critics pounced on her failure to stay true to a promise, made on Dec. 30, 2002, that she would step away from politics. But going by how the markets reacted, the decision was met by relief.
On Nov. 26, Fernando Poe Jr., a movie actor with no political experience, confirmed that he will challenge President Arroyo in the 2004 presidential elections.
Poe’s announcement spooked the markets and pushed the peso to a two-year low of P55.85 to the dollar the day after his declaration.
If polls are any indication, a Poe presidency is not impossible.
That says a lot about politics, Philippine-style: where popularity can prove more valuable than preparation, where the issues of vision and governance can be glossed over by personalities and entertainment.
4. The fall of Saddam
Saddam Hussein strutted in the streets of Baghdad on April 4, three weeks into a war led by the United States, and asked his people to “hit the invaders without respite.”
The capital fell five days later.
But that was not the end of Saddam Hussein’s troubles.
US forces captured the former strongman last Dec. 14 in a hole under a farmhouse, near his home province of Tikrit. A video showed him having his head and teeth examined by a doctor.
By no means does Hussein’s capture signal the end of Iraq’s troubles. There are insurgents to make peace with. Hordes of jobless people to find livelihoods for. Religious leaders to win over to the side of democracy. A new government to build.
Nevertheless, Hussein’s capture is a critical turning point for Iraq, which has grappled with violence long before the war began on March 20.
5. Mutiny in Makati
Nearly 300 soldiers led by Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV seized the high-rise Oakwood apartment on July 27 to demand the resignations of President Arroyo and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.
By 10:12 p.m., a grinning President Arroyo went on air to announce that “the crisis in Makati” was over. She even had time left to polish her State of the Nation Address, scheduled for the day after.
Police arrested a top aide of deposed president Joseph Estrada, claiming that the mutineers had holed up and stashed their weapons in his home.
Although their mutiny was aborted, the Oakwood troops scored twice. Within days, military intelligence chief Victor Corpus resigned. Reyes followed suit on Aug. 30.
In a congressional hearing, senators chided the alleged ringleaders for failing to present proof of their allegations against top defense officials. Among the allegations was that the bombing outside Davao airport earlier in the year was stage-managed to draw more military aid.
Conspicuously absent from the Senate hearings was Sen. Gregorio Honasan, who was charged with masterminding the coup attempt.
On Aug. 11, President Arroyo lifted the “state of rebellion” she had imposed during the mutiny. But the after-effects of Oakwood are difficult to quantify—-the loss of investor confidence, the unease provoked by a politicized military and the nagging sense that the real players got away scot-free.
6. Lao-Soreño ambush
Less than 100 meters from a major police camp, Customs Deputy Collector Eduardo Lao and examiner Bennett Sorreño were killed in an ambush last July 24 by two unidentified men on a motorbike.
Stray bullets killed a high school senior, Alain Dave Ravina, who was across the road, buying his snacks.
Two suspects were captured on Sept. 16. Both Juan Jesus Vergel de Dios and Rustico Fernandez were “haoshiao” workers at the Bureau of Customs—accountable only to customs officials for whom they perform certain transactions, for they are not government workers.
De Dios first confessed he was paid P5,000 for the hit on Lao and Soreño. He later took back his statement, saying it was made under duress.
The case remains pending in court.
Investigators have yet to say whether the attack had anything to do with various questions raised about customs administration, including the problems of rampant smuggling and pilferage of seized goods.
7. Power crisis threatens Cebu
On April 9, the lights went out in the streets of Barangay Colon, Naga.
The barangay had failed to pay its bills for over a year and, worse, tapped wires without permission from the Visayan Electric Company (Veco).
By May, the problem turned out to be more widespread.
Cebu was warned about “a very critical power situation” when the Cebu Private Power Corp. announced it would stop supplying power to Veco by June 15, owing to heavy losses. (The closure was later postponed to July 25, then indefinitely.) But the threat of thin power supply remained.
A series of brownouts in early November prompted the business sector to adjust power consumption habits, such as by asking heavy consumers to use generators during peak hours.
This month, worries about a thin reserve were exacerbated by the expiration of Veco’s franchise on Dec. 8.
For now, the National Electrification Commission has granted Veco a 180-day extension and asked its shareholders to settle an internal dispute. Veco has also arranged for additional power by June 2004 from one of its current suppliers.
The larger issue, however, is whether government planners and executives can draw enough investors to provide secure reliable and affordable power supply in the long run.
8. Chilled by Sars
The flu-like disease killed at least 774 people worldwide this year.
But entire communities untouched by symptoms of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) felt the chills too, as travelers stayed away from Asian economies propped up by tourism. Old tourism slogans were scrapped, such as this: Hong Kong will take your breath away.
At the height of the scare, a private high school in Cebu City refused to allow 19 teachers and the principal to report for work after a four-day educational tour of Hong Kong last March.
Within weeks, a domestic helper from Singapore was confined in a government hospital on suspicion that she was suffering from Sars. She was discharged days later.
In May, a flight attendant and her one-year-old son were confined for observation, but later cleared and sent home.
By May 21, the Philippines was declared free of Sars by the World Health Organization, after 20 days without any new infections. That stamp of good health still holds.
The threat of Sars prompted emergency purchases of surgical gowns, goggles, N95 masks with filters and vitamins for health workers in the frontlines of the prevention campaign.
More importantly, it also prodded public officials and communities to work on health basics, Sars or no Sars: constant sanitation, a well-trained corps of public health workers and accurate information, made easily available to constituents.
9. New ‘accomplice’ tags Alona’s killer
Nearly two years after Alona Bacolod-Ecleo’s death, a man surfaced last Dec. 17 in General Santos City to say that it was Alona’s older brother Ben who strangled her, then dumped her body in Dalaguete, Cebu.
He knew this, said Cedrick Devinadera, because he helped Bacolod get rid of the body.
Devinadera’s confession stunned his family in Labangon, Cebu City. Surviving members of the Bacolod family refused to believe him.
It was impossible for Ben to defend himself, having died in June 2002, in the same attack that also killed his parents and another sister.
After surrendering to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in General Santos, Devinadera is likely to be shipped to Cebu to take the stand in the parricide trial of former San Jose, Dinagat Island mayor Ruben Ecleo Jr.
His appearance further complicates a case that has altered the lives of a powerful clan and, far worse, ended the lives of five others.
10. Infighting at the Capitol
Reeling from years of bickering that led to lengthy debates over the budget, the Capitol, after the 2001 elections, seemed to be in for a smooth handover come 2004.
A tandem of third- and second-generation players from old political clans emerged: Vice Gov. John-john Osmeña for governor and Capitol consultant Gwendolyn Garcia for vice governor.
That pairing doomed Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia’s alliance with former runningmate Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr. of the fourth district.
But it wasn’t just the Garcia-Martinez feud that showed how, indeed, there are no permanent friends in politics.
By October, the governor’s daughter declared she was running for governor. So was he, the vice governor retorted—though such a plan was clearly against the wishes of his father, Sen. Sonny Osmeña. (With five of six congressional districts controlled by his allies, the senator has reportedly told Lakas negotiators wooing his support for 2004: Shut out Pablo and Gwen first.)
With elections only five months away, all sorts of tandems have been considered for the Capitol: Junie-Gwen and John-john-Tining among them.
The jarring note for the voter is that keeping political alliances intact seems to be the paramount concern.
Whatever happened to picking the ones best qualified for the post? That’s the emerging theme for 2004.
(December 29, 2003 issue)
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