Non-negotiable

May 16 is a red-letter day in the 5^th district, as it marks the last day that aspiring congressional candidates can file their Certificates of Candidacy for the special election to be held on June 2. All eyes are on the two announced candidates, Binalbagan Mayor Alejandro “Bebot” Mirasol and his nephew Board Member Emilio “Dino” Yulo III. Others can still make a beeline until then but it may be too late for a third force to emerge.

Mirasol has all the reason to pursue his congressional bid. Because he is endorsed by the formidable United Negros Alliance, the growing Liberal Party organization, and prominent local leaders, the geopolitical landscape of the district is rosy for the good Mayor. Meanwhile, his perceived rival was earlier reported to have called his candidacy “non-negotiable.” “I will definitely run,” Yulo was quoted to have said, “unless stopped by Divine Intervention.”

Let’s examine the statements. What exactly did he mean by “Divine Intervention?” There’s a certain ambiguity to the term, no? It could mean anything, even perhaps waking up one morning and claiming a higher being “advised me not to run.” Quite simply, “Divine Intervention” is a catch-all phrase that gives critics the opportunity and reason to speculate if a candidate is at all serious in pursuing his or her bid for office. Be that as it may, it would be fruitful to remember Winston Churchill who said, “Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed.”

Nevertheless, if some administration partisans in Himamaylan are to be asked, their bet is definitely running. Supporters are framing the Nacionalista candidate a “favorite son” of Himamaylan because his wife (daughter of a former Mayor), son (incumbent SK Federation President), nephew (former SK Federation President), and sister-in-law, who received less than 200 votes when she ran for mayor in 2007, are residents. The strategy is sound. Himamaylan has the largest voting population in the 5^th district and a runaway victory there could spell trouble for an opponent. But a quick check with the database of the Commission on Elections shows that the good Board Member is, in fact, a registered voter of Isabela. And in that municipality, it is interesting to note, his kin are in opposition.

The facts are clear. No candidate in the forthcoming election can claim to represent the interests of Himamaylan by virtue of birth or residency. Besides, a Congressman is precisely elected to represent a district because he should have the interest of all cities and municipalities in mind, not just one. What the 5^th district needs is a unifying Congressman; someone with the skill to bring together political forces and build consensus, the experience to know what needs to be done and the vigor needed to implement these, and of course, someone whose candidacy is truly, undoubtedly non-negotiable.

Feedback is welcome: j.silos.gatuslao@gmail.com

The City Government of Himamaylan wrote to the owners of illegal fishpens in the navigable rivers of the LGU in June 23, 2011 demanding the demolition of the illegal structures after a “maximum of *unreadable* months from today.” I think they indicated “ten” but let’s be liberal and say the City allowed these owners a full year. This means that by June 2012, there should no longer be any illegal structures on the Himamaylan and Aguisan Rivers.

It’s already April 2012. With two months to go, is Himamaylan City on track?

The 5th Legislative District of Negros Occidental was created by the 1987 Constitution and is composed of Himamaylan City and the following municipalities: Hinigaran, Binalbagan, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, and Isabela.

Originally part of the defunct 3rd district of Negros Occidental which now encompasses the 4th, 5th, and 6th Legislative Districts, the district has been represented by the following:

1. Agustin Montilla, 1st Philippine Legislature
2. Rafael Ramos, 2nd Philippine Legislature
3. Speaker Gil M. Montilla, 3rd and 4th Philippine Legislature
4. Tito Silverio, 5th Philippine Legislature
5. Eliseo M. Limsiaco, 6th Philippine Legislature
6. Isaac Lacson, 7th Philippine Legislature
7. Emilio Montilla, 8th Philippine Legislature
8. Emilio Yulo, 9th Philippine Legislature
9. Ramon Agustin, 10th Philippine Legislature
10. Gil M. Montilla, 1st National Assembly
11. Jose Y. Yulo, 2nd National Assembly
12. Raymundo Vargas, 3rd National Assembly
13. Eliseo M. Limsiaco, 1st Congress
14. Augurio M. Abeto, 2nd Congress
15. Agustin M. Gatuslao, 3rd, 4th, 5th Congress
16. Felix M. Feria, Jr., 6th Congress
17. Agustin M. Gatuslao, 7th Congress

Since 1987, the 5th district has had three Congressmen:

1. Rep. Mariano Yulo, 8th, 9th, and 10th Congress
2. Rep. Apolinario Lozada, 11th and 12th Congress
3. Rep. Ignacio T. Arroyo, Jr., 13th, 14th, and 15th Congress

The political season in the 5th district of Negros Occidental has been prematurely declared open by the death of Rep. Iggy Arroyo. 

One look at the long list of possible successors shows the hegemony of the Arroyo political machine since the election of Iggy in 2004 that effectively stifled opposition to his rule. After seven long years limited to their respective bailiwicks, it looks like the old political families and some new players are raring to slug it out for the vacated seat.

Newspapers have published no less than eight potential contenders for the Arroyo seat with many more waiting in the wings. A former congressman whom Arroyo trounced twice, two long-time municipal mayors, an opportunist politico who was supposedly bought off for a few million pesos in the last election, a sister of the late Congressman, and a former board member are among those who have made their intentions known.

Prior to this development, a heated exchange ensued between scions of the landed Yulo and Montilla clans and Grace Ibuna, the mistress of Iggy Arroyo, about the latter’s ambition to succeed her partner as Congressman.

Read up here: 2 Negros clans bond to thwart Iggy GF , Lawmaker told to prepare for Yulo-Montilla-Lozada alliance, and We’ll field a Negrense for the 5th district

Interesting times for the Quinto distrito. Not surprising since a former Vice-Governor did refer to politics in the 5th district to be “colorful and unpredictable”.

“In the name of God, go!”

Opening statement for the Prosecution

by Rep. Niel C. Tupas, Jr.

Impeachment Trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona

Session Hall of the Senate of the Philippines

Pasay City, January 16, 2012

As public servants, we took an oath to uphold the people’s will at all times. All who hold positions in the government of our Republic are accountable for their actions.  For the power of the sovereign Filipino people is a power that is higher than the Executive, the Legislative or even the Judiciary.  And therefore, no matter how high and mighty one’s position may be, no one can ever, ever be beyond public accountability.

Today, we lay down before this honorable impeachment tribunal the product of the collective voice of the people.  Impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, and  graft and corruption is the verdict in the House of Representatives. By issuing such verdict, we took the first step towards the fulfillment of our oath as the keepers of the people’s trust. 

Let me be clear: We are not here to indict the Supreme Court as an institution, or to do battle with the judicial branch. We are here to search for the truth so as to restore the strength and independence of the judiciary.  We are here because one man – Chief Justice Renato Corona — has bartered away for the pot of porridge the effectiveness, the independence, and the honor of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Senate President, your honors, one very important question before this honorable tribunal is, by what standards should Renato Corona be judged?

You only have to look at the Supreme Court itself to know the answer. As you climb its steps, you will see two statues.  One of these is Cayetano Arellano, the first Chief Justice, a man of absolute integrity, and of deepest legal wisdom. The other is of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, who viewed his oath so sacred, and loved his country so deeply, he preferred to die at the hands of the Japanese rather than betray his country.

The Supreme Court itself, then, views the position of the Chief Justice as beyond politics, beyond personal considerations, and always putting one’s honor and justice ahead of every other consideration.  Pagkatao po ang ating pinag-uusapan dito. The Code of Judicial Conduct demands that a judge must be like Caesar’s wife – someone who must not only be pure but beyond suspicion at all times. A Justice, therefore, must be judged according to the highest standards. Against such standards, we then ask:  Who is Chief Justice Corona?  What kind of a man is he? Ano po ba talaga ang pagkatao ni Renato Corona?

Chief Justice Renato Corona was a loyal servant to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the time she became Vice-President in 1998 until she became President in 2001. Such loyalty had numerous rewards for the Chief Justice.  Imagine, GMA paid for his back surgery.  His wife was given plum positions in the John Hay Management Corporation. He was appointed Associate Justice, and the best reward of all, against all odds, he took a midnight oath as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Corona’s appointment as Chief Justice also served an immoral purpose: shielding GMA from prosecution for her misdeeds during her presidency.  The prosecution will show how Chief Justice Corona became the crowning glory of the cast of accomplices of the former President, and how he protected GMA’s interest in exchange for the position of prestige and power.  This is at the heart of Article 1.

This unholy alliance between Chief Justice and GMA, and Corona’s deep indebtedness to the former President culminated in the issuance of a temporary restraining order to enable GMA and her husband to leave the country, and escape accountability. This is Article 7, Corona’s biggest favor yet to his benefactor. And in Article 4, we will show how the Chief Justice intervened in the impeachment case against former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez also to protect GMA interests.

In Articles 3 and 5, we will show the lack of moral fitness of Chief Justice when he committed acts of impropriety involving parties with pending cases in the Supreme Court. His mockery of the disciplinary institutions of the Supreme Court in the plagiarism case of an Associate Justice will be proven in Article 6.  And in Article 8, we will show how he failed to account for the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and the Special Allowances for the Judiciary (SAJ), funds which are managed by the Chief Justice.  Malinaw po: Kung gusto natin ng hustisya, hindi na dapat natin ipagkatiwala kay Chief Justice Corona ang pinakamataas na pwesto sa hudikatura.

And finally, we come to Article 2 where the prosecution will prove that the Chief Justice amassed ill-gotten wealth after he was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2002.  To give you an idea of this article, let me present to you some of the prized pieces of the Corona crown jewels:

Spanish Bay, Bonifacio Ridge, acquired October 2005, purchase price Php9,159,940;

McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, acquired October 21, 2008, purchase price Php6,196,575;

The Bellagio Tower, Taguig, acquired December 2009, purchase price Php14,510,225;

The Columns, in Makati, acquired in 2004;

One Burgundy Plaza – the building where GMA had a penthouse unit while she was Vice-President - acquired in 2003, purchase price Php2,758,000; and

Number 57 Maranao Street, La Vista, acquired in 2003, zonal valuation Php20.4 million, sold to his daughter for only Php18 million.

Your honors, the governing principle of our laws is clear: unexplained discrepancy between an public officer’s income and his assets, declared or undeclared, is prima facie evidence of ill-gotten wealth, and therefore, is an impeachable crime of graft and corruption.

The process of accountability is always a painful one. But the legislature is tasked by no less than the Constitution, the very expression of the people’s will, to undertake this sacred duty.  And if at this instance, this is how we are called upon to be of service to our country, impeach we must.  Mr. Senate President, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, we submit that Renato Corona, by his misdeeds, is unfit to remain Chief Justice. 

In closing, the message of the House, as the representatives of the people, is the same as that given by Oliver Cromwell when he dismissed England’s Long Parliament on April 20 of 1653. Before God and country, we say: “It is high time for us to put an end to you sitting in that place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice, you are an enemy to good government, as you have sold your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas Escariot betrayed your God for a few pieces of gold. Depart I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”

Thank you and good afternoon.

On 27 December 2011, the youngest generation of the Silos-Gatuslao clan held their second annual Spike the Punch Christmas party in their ancestral residence in Bacolod City. Hosted by Justin Silos-Gatuslao, Michaela Gatuslao-Bes, Jacob Gatuslao-Divinagracia, and Nathaniel Gatuslao-Divinagracia, the event saw the bathhouse beside the pool hurriedly removed of all the breakable figurines and vases replaced by an intricately wired sound system, strategically positioned tables and chairs, candles, ashtrays, bowls of chips and plates of salami and cheese as finger food, and bottles of a variety of drinks that people would never forget or would never get the chance to remember. And of course, on a table under one of the arches sat what would finish them all, the bowl of punch to be spiked.

At eight in the evening, guests dressed to impress with women literally rising to the occasion in their 4-inch heels and men ready for anything in rolled up polo sleeves (a couple of them seemed to be in suits) started trickling in. Themselves scions of storied political clans and heirs to prominent Negrense families, the guest list was filled with familiar names coming together for a good cause.

What was different about Spike the Punch this year, other than a grill brought out to give way to a better variety of food and the services of the first mobile bar in the city, was that the Silos-Gatuslaos decided to give a little more purpose to a Christmas party other than just the festivity of people intoxicated with laughter and drink. The family, hailing from thesouthern city of Himamaylan and for generations having had a great political stronghold there, wanted to give back a little more. They launched SiGa – a youth-serving organization that believes in social ignition though education.

SiGa, a portmanteau of Silos-Gatuslao. perfectly fit the family’s generous efforts because siga meant “to light” in Hiligaynon, the primary language of Negrenses. SiGa plans to establish Hacienda Reading Centers, and to kick start the program, the hosts of Spike the Punch asked their guests to each bring three books, be it a children’s storybook, textbook, dictionary, or encyclopedia. Everyone welcomed the idea for they all had something to give away. Others gave boxes of books instead of just the directed three, glad to have given, gladder it would serve a greater purpose.

At the event, a table was set up outside where guests could place their books when they arrived, and a sign up screen where they could list their names and put how many books they donated to the cause. By the end of the night, or the wee hours of the morning at that, after the music was turned down, the chairs mismatched the tables, the candles put out, the bowls and plates of food emptied, and the bottles strewn about mostly intact, the Silos-Gatuslaos congratulated themselves at the sight of the piles of books the sturdy table carried, congratulated themselves at the spiked punch that for the second year did not disappoint, and looked forward to the promise that tomorrow will bring - that the Hacienda San Isidro Reading Center would now receive over 300 books from friends willing and waiting to do it all over again next year. - Michaela Gatuslao-Bes