sarap maging senador!

[cutedoc]

mentioned above are the "accounted" monetary returns of being a senator, but how about the "perks", where most of the politicos are after...

[oldblue]

isa sa perks na pagiging senator nakakain ng hotel food breakfast, lunch, dinner

[rdecruze]

dapat talaga matanggal na senate at maging parliamentary. kahit 2M lang na matipid dami na makikinabang sa gov. livelihood program

Correct ka dyan sir, kaya pala sang ayon si Miriam sa parliamentary!!

[CVT]

Tama si blitz122805,- pera ng taong bayan iyan,- tax natin iyan!!!

2701:bye:

[Sarsi]

Tama si blitz122805,- pera ng taong bayan iyan,- tax natin iyan!!!

2701:bye:

pangarap ko gastusin at kurakutin ang mga taxes ninyo

[oldblue]

you know what's really funny right now, the opposition mum's the word kung magkano talaga ginagastos nila sa senatorial elections. talagang malalaman mo kung sino silently gustong-gusto

pero ang team unity, open book sila sa gastos in the likes of pichay and joker arroyo (top 1 and top 2 big spenders respectively). talagang pinapakita ng administrasyon kung gano kawaldas maging senador sa bayan na'to to the point na masuka na taong-bayan sa mga senador. fielding cesar montano is also a very good strategy, lalong nasusuka tao sa senado hahaha


ok talaga think tank ng administration, go parliament! hehehe

[lightning099]

share ko lang ha...

‘Inside the Senate, they’re all alike’ (1)
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Publication Date: [Monday, May 07, 2007]


Dear Mr. Bondoc,

The crooked BIR man I wrote to you about has his daughter and son in his staff; they often travel abroad and report to work only when they wish. Mr. B of Customs, among the raiders of 168 Mall, also has a daughter in his staff; she sells the stuff they confiscated.

But I’m more concerned about the senatorial election. Like I said, I’ve worked with a number of legislators and witnessed first hand how corrupt they are, with the exception of only three. I hope you can enlighten your readers against electing them again and again.

Let me start my story with persons I met in my first of 12 years in the Senate, as regular staff and project consultant. Keep my identity safe. Fresh from college I worked for an academic from (a region in Luzon), now deceased, good and smart. But I resigned because his chief of staff didn’t treat us equally.

I moved to another senator as action deputy, and so got to read all docs, inter-office memos, plans, programs, budgets, etc. We would travel around the country, attending fiestas, working till the wee hours, getting all the names and addresses of the townsfolk at the plaza for our database. They were sent Christmas cards, Valentine cards, etc. I encountered drunks on several occasions, but treated it as part of the job. We were not given allowances on those trips. We ate and slept in supporters’ houses or mayors’ resorts, and sometimes in cheap hotels. We rode government planes — we even had a Nomad for three days — all for free, of course.

Our boss would scold and curse us if she doesn’t land in broadsheets; for her tabloids don’t matter. We would turn up the speakerphone for all to bear her spiteful words: "mga walang silbi, palamunin, walang utak." We would all laugh although deep inside it hurt. We were all from UST, UP or Ateneo, while she didn’t finish college. How ironic!

She often threw house parties for mayors and governors, if she wasn’t elsewhere around the country partying. Our secretary would call Chinese friends to donate pancit, kakanin, viands, pastries, wine (from Duty-Free), so almost all come free. Roasted calf came from Baby P. (of Pampanga). Boss once traveled to Australia, with Baby spending all fare and accommodations — yet she has the gall to say that Baby looks like a maid. Due to the frequency of her parties, her reluctant friends would complain to the secretary: "Wala na ba kayong mahihingan na iba?" She used her friends very well.

One time I was going through our monthly expenses when I read the entries "detergent powder" and "laundry bars". I asked the office chief of staff about it, and he told me to hush up because "it’s for Madam’s house." I later found out that her maids and drivers were in our Senate payroll; meaning, they drew monthly salaries and quarterly bonuses from the government. But they admitted to me meager wages that didn’t jibe with payroll entries; again meaning Boss was pocketing the difference. She had a marketing group for a personal project also at Senate expense.

She bought condos and townhouses as her "extension offices" — and had the Senate pay the monthly amortizations. Really good in business, huh. Once she flew to Lanao on the eve of election and poured money on the voters. She took commissions from all her big projects. One contractor named Manny once requested that I tell Boss that her new house was ready, so he needed the SARO (special allotment release order) from the Dept. of Budget and Management). I learned then that contractors and suppliers, upon receipt of SAROs, would remit 30-percent kickbacks, called "SOP", "rebate" or "commission".

I can’t recall all her misdeeds and affairs with married politicos. Her family couldn’t stand it. Enriching herself in office, she was able to redeem her mortgaged mansion — and buy even more houses in Baguio, Cavite, Quezon City, three condos in Pasig, and five in Pasay, plus luxury vehicles and jewelries.

I wonder why soldiers idolize two other senators. They pocket the millions that they promised to pitch to foundations from pork barrels. One of them and his executive assistant pocketed so much that they were able to buy houses, vehicles and Hong Kong vacations for their wives and mistresses. When the wife found out about the girlfriend, she took over selecting all the project contractors.

That’s what I learned in the Senate: outwardly they’re different, but inside, man or woman, they’re all the same. I have eight more senators to tell you about, especially the ones to whom I personally delivered money.

[lightning099]

‘Inside the Senate, they’re all alike’ (2)
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
Publication Date: [Wednesday, May 09, 2007]


Dear Mr. Bondoc,

To continue, I left my miserable life with that senator after x months, and went into business. Years later a friend invited me to do secretarial, eventually field, work for a senatorial candidate, now also deceased. He won and I was absorbed into his staff. I was back at the Senate.

My new boss was a brilliant and very kind person. To employees he gave financial assistance even from his own pocket, and told us never to turn down any constituent. He’d share with us his own food in the middle of a tiring day or during overtime work. He gave us bonuses aside from what we get from operations savings, brought us presents from his travels.

I felt I had found the ideal boss. But our chief of staff was the exact opposite. She made money on our monthly budgets. She collected receipts even from our personal expenses, have these certified as official business, then pocket the reimbursements. She had ghost employees in the payroll. Every senator had a monthly budget of P1 million for staff salaries, office supplies, office rentals, furniture, plane fare, newspaper subscriptions, etc. The chiefs of staff, usually the son or daughter of the senators, made it a habit to use it all up, so that they don’t have to return the monthly savings. That’s where all the ineligible receipts were used.

Also, our enterprising project officer took a cut from all the projects. She even had the gall to write the district engineers and regional directors (of the Dept. of Public Works and Highways) to endorse her preferred contractors and suppliers. She made money, 50-percent kickbacks, on mahogany seeds from the Dept. of Agriculture, children’s coloring books, barangay seminars, infrastructure projects and livelihood training (cattle raising). She was able to hide her dealings from our boss, but not from me. She underestimated her co-workers and left paper trails of her shenanigans everywhere. Eventually she got caught and was fired.

When the boss died, I decided to change careers. I got married and settled down — until another friend gave me "consultancy" work with different senators. Trained by my first boss to deal with government officials, I became friends with Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, assistants and bureau directors. That gave me lots of "jobs".

I was doing work simultaneously for four senators (short description of each). I prepared and submitted proposals, followed them up with the agencies concerned, did PR. Sometimes from my own allowance I’d buy fruits, noodles or cakes for my contacts to speed up the paperwork. I got to meet my employers’ favorite contractors/suppliers. Every time we get the SAROs (special allotment release orders), they’d all be waiting at the senators’ offices or at the (name of nearby hotel). And they’d give boxes carefully gift-wrapped. I always wondered why, since it’s not the senators’ birthdays. So naive of me, I later learned it was money in exchange for big projects, ha-ha-ha.

In fairness to my honorable employers, it was always a son or daughter, sometimes a cousin, who would actually receive the money. Still, like I said, outwardly they’re clean, but inside the Senate they’re all alike and dirty.

I would also like to share with you that sometimes, rather, a lot of times, I encountered two or three contractors on one and the same project. It turned out that the children of the senator from (a Luzon province), now deceased, were competing with each other in bagging the big-funded projects. An acquaintance, Mrs. L from Cagayan Valley, once confided to me that she gave a cash advance of half a million pesos to that legislator’s daughter, now active in (name of an anti-Charter Change group) sometime in 1998. But she wasn’t given a single project; she was given only promises. I heard that their property was foreclosed by the bank and eventually went bankrupt.

Another friend, from a big construction company (name of the firm), also gave an advance to this same lady. Again, no projects.

The three siblings were always nag-uunahan (racing each other) to the point that they’d have their father sign documents, and then they’d hurry over to the DBM (Dept. of Budget and Management) with their lists. When one time I was asked by one daughter in the staff to follow up some papers at the DBM. It turned out that the son, or was it the other sibling, had arrived there earlier and got the SARO. I was so embarrassed because I used the name of the daughter. Nakakahiya sila (they are shameful), they didn’t coordinate among themselves.

Next I’ll tell you about more suppliers.

[lightning099]

‘Inside the Senate, they’re all alike’ (3)
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
The Philippine Star 05/11/2007

(Last of three parts)
Dear Mr. Bondoc,

A big-time supplier, Nilda R., would deliver money to the house of Senator (name) of (subdivision), Quezon City. She dealt in textbooks, distributed by DECS, funded by the pork barrel of whichever senator. She often treated the celebrity-wife to Hong Kong trips. She told me all these.

I met and became friends with Nilda when I was following up papers at the DBM, where suppliers usually hang out waiting for release of SAROs (special allotment release orders) and NCAs (notices of cash allotment). She gave away 50 percent of the allocated amount of the project. So if the fund is P10 million, she would give P5 million to that celebrity-turned-senator.

Another supplier, of medicines especially to the Armed Forces, Mrs. (full name), was able to break into the company of Senators (initials), both former (profession). She approached me, made chitchat and was soon offering me a ride to my daily visits to DBM or DPWH. Little did I realize then that she wanted to meet all my contacts. She got big projects for the AFP’s V. Luna Hospital and the senators’ medical missions. She also gave 50-percent "rebate" upon release of the SAROs.

During one of the medical missions, we noticed that the medicines looked different. One of our staff commented that they were fakes. No wonder she was able to give that big a cut to the bosses — and the bosses’ wives. Oh yes, she also treated Mrs. (names of two senators’ spouses) to Hong Kong.

A son of one of my employers introduced me to a big-time contractor from Isabela, (full name). He did most of the projects for then-Senator (surname). One time, upon release of the SARO, I was instructed to meet with them and hand over the document. The guy had big boxes, the size of beer cases, inside his Ford Expedition SUV. Inside the boxes were tons of cash, in P1,000-bills. I had never seen so much money in my life. We went straight to the home of my employer, a former (high government rank), in (subdivision), Alabang. There he turned over the boxes. Afterwards, the guy and his wife offered me a ride home, which was on their route. We stopped at the house of the son of (name of another senator) in (subdivision along EDSA), Quezon City. They delivered another box of money.

To be sure, this senator-son of a former (high position), from Luzon, never asked for money from anyone in exchange for projects. But his cousin Mr. (full name), our chief of staff, collected all the cash without the consent of the boss. I found this out in the latter part of my employment with them.

A good friend handling the projects of another celebrity from (Luzon province) confided to me. All the projects were being handled by the construction company of the senator’s celebrity-sister. She cornered everything, left nothing for small contractors, not even scraps. She and the senator also got kickbacks from foreign-assisted projects, since the senator headed the committee overseeing those. They also got to insert big-budget projects, without the other senators finding out and demanding a piece of the action.

Access the files at DBM, and you will see why these legislators gave more of their pork barrels for medicines, computers, textbooks and farm-to-market roads, dredging, irrigation, solar driers, seedlings, livelihood projects especially cattle raising, street markers, reflector studs, etc. That’s where kickbacks were easy.

Check the project lists of (names of 11 past and present senators, two females). You will see the pattern of corruption. Every year they get P200 million worth of projects at their disposal. They submit a list of projects to be funded, and then they endorse the contractors and suppliers. For the projects they get 20-50 percent "commissions". No wonder so many leaders, even ordinary citizens, want to be senator or congressman. They get easy money, and get to be addressed as "Honorable". Pathetic!

Please don’t reveal my name, and those of contractors and suppliers I mentioned because they will recognize me. But you can use the info in your column, or radio and television programs, so the electorate will not vote them back into office this 2007 or in 2010.

I share these things because I pity our country. Corrupt leaders rule us, while our fellowmen reel in poverty. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing; I choose to do something. I have more details of more tomfoolery to give you. Perhaps I’ll just approach you in our church.

Till next time, Jason

[Isuzoom]

yung no.1 parang si coseteng?