THE appointment of former President Fidel V. Ramos with former Interior and Local Government Secretary Raffy Alunan to negotiate with China over the prolonged dispute over the South China Sea shoals and islets was no doubt a masterstroke on the part of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ramos has the credentials to negotiate with China, and Alunan has studied the issue well. President Duterte could not have chosen better people to represent the country in such a sensitive and critical matter.
Now, whether or not bilateral talks with China can resolve the dispute over its nine-dash line claim over the South China sea is another matter. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague may have decided in our favor, saying that China’s claim did not have legal basis. Whether this could serve as the basis for negotiation is another matter.
China has rejected the decision, saying it is null and void. So what can Ramos and Alunan still negotiate? China insists that the islands, islets and shoals have belonged to it since ancient times. Note that occupation is 99 percent ownership.
The only positive thing that I see is that negotiations will ease the tension. Remember how President Duterte said we should not flaunt (our victory) or taunt (China).
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On Monday, the 13th Division of the Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order on the Securities and Exchange Commission, preventing it from enforcing its en banc decision on the 2009 Philex Mining insider-trading case against former Trade Minister and international businessman Roberto “Bobby” V. Ongpin.
In its decision, the SEC—some commissioners of which are minions of former President BS Aquino—ordered Ongpin to pay P174 million for alleged insider trading. The amount is higher than the recommendation of the SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department.
The SEC order also disqualified Ongpin from being an officer, member of the board, or person performing similar functions of a publicly-listed company. As such, Ongpin was ordered to relinquish and resign from any or all positions he is presently holding.
Actually, Bobby Ongpin, my former student at the Ateneo High School during the early 50s, is not new to controversies. This is because of his close ties with former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.
This was, in fact, why he was charged by Aquino minions at the Development Bank of the Philippines as guilty of obtaining “behest loans” amounting to P556 million. In fact, the loans were paid before maturity and the bank earned P1.4 billion from the transaction.
Ongpin was also charged with committing insider trading.
The harassment and persecution of Ongpin went on for years until 2014 when the Sandiganbayan dismissed all cases against him. The anti-graft court found no probable cause against Ongpin and said the Ombudsman should not have filed them in the first place. But it seems Aquino’s minions at the SEC have not given up.
We have here a clear pattern of harassment and prosecution. The DBP was then headed by Jose Nuñez Jr., a protegé of Salvador Zamora, the biggest contributor of Aquino during the 2010 elections.
Seeking a TRO from the Court of Appeals, Ongpin also raised the substantive issues on what acts are punishable as insider trading as well as the prescription of the administrative charge. The administrative case against him had already prescribed.
From my knowledge of the law, Ongpin can countercharge SEC for besmirching his reputation. He can also sue SEC chairman Teresita Herbosa for harassment and persecution since the Sandiganbayan had already cleared Ongpin of insider trading.
In its restraining order, the appellate court set the hearings of the merits of the case for Aug. 23 and 24, 2016. The law firm of former Justice Secretary Estelito Mendoza has entered its appearance as collaborating counsel on behalf of Ongpin.
Another instance of harassment and persecution during the tenure of former President BS Aquino was that of Bases Conversion and Development Authority headed by Arnel Casanova and its Aquino-appointed board of directors.
Because of Casanova’s bias and prejudice against Bob Sobrepeña, chairman of the Camp John Hay Development Corp., the firm that won the bid in 1996 to develop the 275 hectares of the former American base, tourism in Baguio suffered. Worse, 25 percent of the income supposedly generated by the development never materialized.
Despite the Court of Appeals ruling last July 30, 2015 upholding the third-party rights of 1,631 investors, the BCDA under Casanova insisted that it owned all developments within the camp and that possessors in good faith—not even a party to the controversy—must relinquish their rights.
The case is now on appeal by Casanova to the Supreme Court. It seems that the justices, however, are not in any hurry to rule on the issue.