Whatever happened to Joc-joc, Mike Arroyo, and Daniel Smith?

Political and moral scandals hounded the country's top officials, not the least President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in 2009. Many of the controversies remain unresolved however, despite congressional investigations and resolutions from various government agencies. Are Filipinos willing to simply forgive and forget about the thousands of plan-holders who got swindled of their life earnings, the fertilizer scam that funded an electoral campaign, and the brutal murder of prominent personalities? CORRUPTION

World Bank road mess In January, the World Bank announced the blacklisting of three Filipino firms after discovering that they had rigged $33 million worth of bids for road projects. In a Senate inquiry, Sen. Panfilo Lacson accused First Gentleman Mike Arroyo of close ties with Eduardo de Luna, owner of blacklisted firm EC de Luna Construction Corp. Lacson furnished the media with copies of a World Bank report containing testimonies from contractors that they supposedly had to bribe Mr. Arroyo, a former senator, and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) before they could get road projects. A witness told WB probers that De Luna was backed by the First Gentleman, who denied the accusation. Senator Miriam Santiago’s economic affairs committee has yet to release a report on the probe, while 17 DPWH officials are still under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman for possible connivance with contractors who are barred from World Bank-funded infrastructure projects. Jocjoc Bolante and the fertilizer scam Last February 23, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee recommended the filing of charges against nine people including former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante, who allegedly diverted P728 million intended for fertilizers for poor farmers into Mrs. Arroyo's campaign kitty in the 2004 elections. Reputed to be close to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Bolante has denied any anomaly in the fertilizer fund program. And instead of hiding from public view, he filed his certificate of candidacy for the gubernatorial post in Capiz, running against incumbent Governor Victor Tanco Sr. ZTE-NBN probe Last September, the Ombudsman recommended the filing of graft charges against former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos and incumbent Social Security System president Romulo Neri over the $329.4-million ZTE national broadband network mess. However, the investigating panel dropped President Arroyo from the charge sheet due to presidential immunity from legal suits, and also her husband Jose Miguel due to lack of probable cause. Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros and ZTE-NBN star witness Jun Lozada immediately filed a motion for reconsideration seeking Mr. Arroyo's inclusion in the charge sheet, but the Ombudsman has yet to act on the petition, Hontiveros said on December 28. In a report released in November, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee said Mr. Arroyo should be charged for his alleged involvement in the anomalous project. Legacy mess The plan-holders and depositors of the collapsed Legacy Group are crying, “Where did our money go?" Businessman Celso de los Angeles Jr. allegedly used company funds for yacht repairs, talent fees for artists during birthday parties, medicine and electricity bills, salaries of household help, lavish gifts to friends, opulent mansions, travel expenses, and a campaign kitty for his electoral bid. In a Senate inquiry about the financial mess in the pre-need industry, the mayor of Sto. Domingo town in Albay repeatedly denied having orchestrated fraudulent schemes that led to Legacy’s collapse. Now ailing with cancer, de los Angeles is facing multiple charges from perjury to syndicated estafa for allegedly siphoning off hundreds of millions from Legacy funds. RAPE Acquittal of Daniel Smith It wasn’t rape. What happened between Lance Corporal Daniel Smith and Suzette Nicolas (aka Nicole) in November 2005 was just a “spontaneous, unplanned romantic episode," according to the Court of Appeals’ ruling penned by three female justices. Less than 24 hours after the appellate court handed down its verdict in April, Smith returned to the US. The CA’s ruling came weeks after Nicolas fired her lawyer, executed an affidavit expressing her doubts that she was raped, and left for the US with her new American lover. The US Embassy said Smith is no longer part of the Marines, while Nicole’s mother said her daughter wanted a new lease on life in the homeland of the man she had accused of raping her. Freedom for Jalosjos He was sentenced to two life terms for raping an 11-year-old girl in 1996, but former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos walked out of prison a free man last March 19 after staying in jail for only 13 years. The wealthy former politician immediately announced plans of becoming the political adviser of his brother, Dapitan Mayor Dominador Jalosjos. and putting up a P2-billion theme park called "Gloria's Fantasyland" in the city. He has filed for absolute pardon which, if granted, is supposed to restore a convicted person's rights to vote and be elected into public office. MURDER Dacer-Corbito double murder case Veteran publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito were brutally murdered nine years ago, but until now, no one has been jailed for the crime. Even though two key men who were linked to the killings have been extradited to the country after many years in hiding in the US, no one has been prosecuted and the masterminds have not been unmasked. In his controversial affidavit, former police officer Cezar Mancao II said then-PNP chief and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson ordered the killings, which allegedly had former President Joseph Estrada’s approval. Mancao was a ranking official at the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force headed by Lacson. Members of the PAOCTF allegedly carried out the twin killings on Nov. 24, 2000. This year, the Manila Regional Trial Court reopened the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. Lacson and Estrada, who have repeatedly denied involvement in the killings, have not shown up in court to answer the allegations. Ruby Rose Barrameda murder case The disposal of a body believed to be that of Ruby Rose Barrameda, the sister of former actress and beauty queen Rochelle Barrameda, was straight out of a Mafia movie: it was found inside a cemented steel case submerged off the Navotas Fish Port last June 10, more than two years after Ruby Rose went missing in March 2007. The story took an even more riveting turn when police investigation pointed to members of her estranged husband's family as the possible perpetrators of the heinous crime. Murder charges against her father-in-law Manuel Jimenez Jr., his brother Lope, and four other alleged accomplices have been filed before the Navotas Regional Trial Court, which has yet to resolve the controversial case. DRUGS Alabang Boys In 2008, three young scions of wealthy families were nabbed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for allegedly possessing and selling high-end drugs. Their case became headline material after the agency accused Justice Department prosecutors of receiving P50 million in bribes to dismiss the case of suspects Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph, and Joseph Tecson – tagged as the Alabang Boys. President Arroyo, who declared herself as the anti-drug czar at the height of the controversy, overturned the DOJ resolution after convening an independent panel investigation and ordered the filing of cases against the three suspects. Tecson is detained at the Quezon City Jail and is facing charges at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. Joseph and Brodett are confined at the police headquarters in Parañaque while their case is being heard at the Muntinlupa RTC. CULTURE National Artists controversy Does Carlo J. Caparas, the man behind "The Untold Story: Vizconde Massacre 2 - God Have Mercy on Us" and similar movies deserve to be named National Artist? Absolutely not, if several artist groups would have their way. National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and other cultural stalwarts, who filed the petition questioning the choice of Caparas and other National Artist nominees without due process, are pleased with the Supreme Court's status quo order blocking the conferment of the awards last August but are concerned that the case has not progressed. "The Supreme Court … said after 10 days there will be oral discussion," Lumbera said. "They have not moved in order to bring that discussion." - YA, GMANews.TV