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Don’t
look now, but there’s restiveness within the membership
of the Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association
Inc., or AMWSLAI. Established 52 years ago, AMWSLAI
counts in its roster some 230,000 active and retired
personnel of the Armed Forces and the Philippine
National Police.
The
cooperative-type firm was the subject of a congressional
investigation in 2004 that unearthed unsound business
practices by its board of trustees headed by Col. Luvin
Manay. The probe sent shivers of apprehension down the
spines of members and almost caused a bank run. To
restore the trust and confidence of the members in the
leadership, the members of the board tendered their
resignation and sought a fresh mandate through a special
general election on October 14, 2005.
All the
11 members of the board of trustees, along with 35
others, submitted applications for candidacy. But Manay
and four others failed to submit the required clearances
and to settle their accountabilities, as required by
AMWSLAI rules, and were disqualified from running. They
asked the Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) to issue a
temporary restraining order (TRO), which was granted.
However, the summons was not properly served to the
concerned election committee officials, and the
elections pushed through, resulting in the proclamation
of 12 winning candidates (the 11th and 12th positions
were tied, so they decided to serve for one-and-a-half
years each.)
Manay
and Co. filed a petition before the Court of Appeals
(CA) to reverse the decision of the Pasay RTC. When the
CA ruled in favor of Manay and his group, the current
board of trustees took the case to the Supreme Court
(SC), which initially issued a TRO to prevent Manay and
his group from taking office as members of the board of
trustees. But later, the High Court decided to annul the
elections of 2005 and to reinstate the group of Manay
and the three incumbent directors in a holdover
capacity.
The
current Board of Trustees then asked the CA to issue a
TRO, preventing Manay and his group from exercising
their duties and preventing them from going to AMWSLAI,
which was granted. The board also decided to conduct the
general election as embodied in the
AMWSLAI Constitution and bylaws and in compliance with
the SC ruling, declaring as open for election the eight
seats earlier declared by the tribunal to be occupied in
holdover capacity.
Manay
and his group did not participate in the elections; they
knew they were not qualified because of unsettled
liabilities with AMWSLAI. They asked the Supreme Court
through an urgent omnibus motion to annul the election,
which they said was highly irregular.
Manay
and his group are alleged to have granted Dosri loans
worth millions of pesos. Manay himself is being asked by
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to explain why P16
million in AMWSLAI funds ended up in his personal bank
account. They also face a charge of illegal detention
for forcibly opening the AMWSLAI branches in Villamor
Air Base and Lipa despite the fact that the court
decision on the issue has yet to be considered rendered
final and executory.
As
things now stand, apprehension is written on the faces
of ordinary AMWSLAI members who fear the return of the
Manay group could put the association in a continuing
state of disarray. Thus, they want the SC to issue a
final ruling on the matter, considering that a duly
elected board of trustees has been given a clear
mandate.
The
politics of rice
The
opposition and militant groups have found common cause
in making political capital out of the rice issue,
saying that the Arroyo administration is solely to blame
for what’s expected to be the scarce supply and the
higher prices of the staple food. But if we’re to
believe the Department of Agriculture, the rice issue
shouldn’t be used as a battering ram against the
government, because it is doing everything possible to
prevent rice shortages and price increases.
The
Agriculture department insists we have no problems
insofar as the supply of rice is concerned, but there’s
a clear need to keep a tight watch on rice prices.
Sufficient supply of rice will be ensured by boosting
production and securing imports in the months ahead. The
agency expects to surpass last year’s record of 16.24
million metric tons (MMT) of rice production with a
target of 17.32 MMT of rice yields in 2008. The
government has also secured commitments from Vietnam,
the United States and other countries of up to 2.7 MMT
of imports to ensure enough supply during the
July-September lean months. The National Food Authority
(NFA) had earlier contracted rice imports totaling 1.2
MMT.
Apart
from ensuring adequate rice supply, the government wants
to stabilize retail prices. The NFA will engage in the
direct or supervised selling not only of subsidized NFA
stocks but also of the medium-priced varieties,
particularly in the country’s 10 most hunger-prone
provinces. The food agency will also deliver stocks
directly to retail outlets instead of allowing
accredited traders to pick them up in NFA warehouses.
These measures are intended to prevent unscrupulous
traders from taking advantage of the situation to make a
killing at the expense of consumers.
If the
government agencies in charge of food are able to
deliver on their promises, then the effort to use rice
as a battering ram on the ramparts of the administration
is likely to fall flat on its face.
Lozada
now by his lonesome?
While on
the subject of politics, is it true that NBN-ZTE whistle
blower and Senate witness Jun Lozada has practically
lost the support of two stalwarts of the Philippine
Catholic Church—Cebu’s Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and
Manila’s Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales?
Cardinal
Vidal recently turned down the holding within his
archdiocese of the “Mass for Truth” that was supposed to
have Lozada as guest of honor.
Cardinal
Rosales, for his part, issued a Palm Sunday pastoral
letter saying the country’s political problems “went
beyond the question of truth,” adding that “it is about
the integrity of all, the accuser and the accused”
which, if we read it right, seems to be a rebuke on both
sides of the broadband controversy.
With two
leaders of the Church now apparently distancing
themselves from Lozada, will the NBN-ZTE controversy
simply wither on the vine? |
