The real ‘palusot’

By ATTY. DODO DULAY

Remember when “palusot” became a buzzword during the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona? Well, it seems there really is “palusot” going on, not by Corona but by officials of the Aquino administration.

Heading the list is the controversial mass sale of 489 provincial bus franchises of the long-extinct Pantranco to five bus companies owned by the Hernandez family – Pangasinan Five Star, Bataan Transit, Victory Liner, Cisco and First North Luzon. What stinks about this whole deal is that the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved the sale of these franchises which have been ‘dead’ since 1993 and even if it openly contradicted their previous rulings that the lines have long expired and could no longer be sold or transferred.

While the public was distracted by the impeachment trial, LTFRB resurrected these “Lazarus franchises,” awarding 489 of the 1,100 Pantranco lines to former employees of the bankrupt bus firm, who in turn, sold it to the Hernandez family’s bus companies. And through some clever maneuvering, the franchising agency was also able to circumvent the moratorium imposed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on the grant of new lines.

The LTFRB’s controversial move, however, also goes against the Supreme Court ruling in the JRS Business Corp. case that although a franchise may be considered as property, it can only be sold to satisfy a judgment debt if the decision especially so provides. We’re told no such directive appears in the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC)’s decision awarding back wages, retirement pay and other money benefits to former Pantranco workers.

That the LTFRB reportedly issued the decision approving the sale of the defunct Pantranco lines even before the deadline to oppose it had lapsed, is also highly irregular. Rumor has it that well-connected “operators” packaged the crooked deal for P150,000 for each of the 489 lines. That’s a cool P73 million! A very tempting proposition indeed. Good thing DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas got wind of this “snow job” and suspended the implementation of the LTFRB’s decision.

Another “palusot” is the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) given to a Korean-owned and operated resort and floating restaurant in the protected area of Taal Lake. Located at Barangay Buco in Talisay, Batangas, the resort occupies some 6,900 square meters, with its restaurant building sitting right on lake waters. Catering mostly to Korean tourists, the restaurant had supposedly been operating since about five years ago.

However, Taal Lake – the country’s third largest lake with an area of about 244 square kilometers – has been declared a national park and is considered a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992. Nobody’s supposed to construct or operate any kind of structure without getting a permit from DENR’s Protected Area Management Board (PAMB).

DENR officials also claimed the Korean restaurant was violating environmental laws and had no ECC. But when DENR personnel were about to demolish the illegal structure built on the lake, the lawyer for the Korean resort arrived and produced an ECC. So who issued the ECC? Why was an ECC issued for a highly questionable operation inside a nature reserve? DENR officials didn’t say.

Inspectors likewise said that the floating restaurant didn’t have building and business permits from the municipal government of Talisay. Yet, it had been running for almost five years. All the while, thousands of local and foreign tourists have been to this restaurant housed in an eye-catching 2-story building and which is even listed as a tourist facility in the Talisay municipality’s website and – and local government officials didn’t know about it? Aw, c’mon!

Perhaps the only thing more incredible than that is the “palusot” of Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Director Roberto Sheen on the ECC which he issued to businessman Reghis Romero’s Manila Harbor Center.

About a week ago, AGHAM party-list Rep. Angelo Palmones unearthed the existence of huge mountains of dirty coal dumped in an open yard inside Romero’s port terminal, right beside the waters of Manila Bay. The exposé led to a public outcry from environmental groups because the stockpiling of a known pollutant like coal violates the Supreme Court’s writ of kalikasan protecting the bay.

As it later turned out, Sheen apparently issued an ECC to Romero allowing the latter to stockpile coal. But in the ECC, Romero was only allowed to stockpile 40 metric tons of coal. Sheen claims, however, that Romero didn’t violate anything because he was actually permitted to stockpile 40,000 metric tons of coal. The reason for the discrepancy? Typographical error. Can you believe that?!

This is why many people are now asking if this is the way President Aquino’s “tuwid na daan” policy is being implemented.

Well apparently, some things never change.

opinion@manilatimes.net