Movement 188 and IBC 13

Fed up with the slow pace of the impeachment trial and the obstructionist tactics of the defense panel, a group of congressmen calling themselves Movement 188 (I suppose for the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona), has mounted a grass-roots information drive to keep their respective constituents informed on the Senate trial developments.

First, the campaign will caution the public against what the legislators call the “smoke and mirrors” trick by the defense panel to sidetrack the trial from testimonies and evidence establishing Corona’s guilt at least in the Article II charges of inaccurate disclosure of his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs), non-declaration of certain assets in these SALNs, and the suspected acquisition of these assets with ill-gotten wealth.

“Like magicians, the defense lawyers have, from Day 1, turned to court rules and motions as smoke and mirrors to bedazzle the public on live TV with their legal acumen and foist upon them the illusion of Corona’s innocence,” said the Movement’s statement. “Our people must know that this constitutional process is not a pissing contest or athletic game to be judged by which between the prosecution and defense panels has the smarter lawyers and better legal ploys every trial day, but is a Charter-mandated trial that has to ascertain at the end” which side can prove whether or not the Chief Justice is still fit to remain in office.

Among the frontliners of Movement 188 are Representatives Florencio Noel (An Waray party list), Maria Jocelyn Bernos (Abra), Maximo Dalog (Mountain Province), Dakila Carlo Cua (Quirino), Joselito Andrew Mendoza (Bulacan), Carlo Lopez (Manila), Emi Calixto-Rubiano (Pasay City), Roy Loyola (Cavite), Danilo Ramon Fernandez (Laguna), and Ben Evardone (Eastern Samar).

Also members of the Movement are Cesar Sarmiento (Catanduanes), Fernando Gonzalez (Albay), Deogracias Ramos Jr. (Sorsogon), Salvio Fortuno (Camarines Sur), Rene Relampagos (Bohol), Rogelio Espina (Biliran), Loreto Leo Ocampos (Misamis Occidental), Alfredo Benitez (Negros Occidental), Isidro Ungab (Davao City), Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay (Compostela Valley), and Rosendo Labadlabad (Zamboanga del Norte).

The Movement cited three goals of the information drive:

1. A harmless information effort to update their constituents on trial developments, especially those in far-flung towns and barangays who cannot watch the proceedings on TV or radio or those whose jobs prevent them from monitoring the trial in the media.

2. Explain to their constituents who probably have had the time or means to follow the trial on TV or radio but have nonetheless gotten more confused by the day—thanks to all the tricks in the book that the Cuevas-led defense team have let loose to delay the proceedings and bar the presentation of evidence and testimonies pertinent to Article 2 of the impeachment complaint.

3. Assure their constituents that the supposed Plan B is not true and is just a figment of the Corona camp’s collective imagination. Given the damaging testimonies and evidence presented thus far that all point, this early, to a presumption of guilt on the part of Corona—despite the incessant rearguard moves by the defense team to have them expunged from court records—Movement 188 leaders are confident that the senator-judges would, at the end of the trial, find him no longer fit to remain in the Supreme Court.

* * *

At last, things are looking up for the troubled International Broadcasting Corp. (IBC 13). More than P1 billion in debt, averaging P80 million in yearly losses and having numerous labor problems, the state-run broadcasting network has for several decades been looking for investment partners to solve its financial woes. But because of the miserable state of the broadcast station, IBC 13 has failed to attract partners. Not until the middle of 2010.

On March 24, 2010, IBC 13 and leading land developer Primestate Ventures signed the joint venture (JV) agreement after more than a year of negotiations and processes leading to approvals by various government agencies. IBC 13 management and the labor unions were ecstatic that, finally, all of their financial woes will end. Management and the unions signed the Memorandum of Agreement allocating P278 million for the payment of the workers’ unpaid benefits.

Under the development contract, IBC 13 will contribute 3.6 hectares of Broadcast City to the JV and get guaranteed revenues of P728 million, to be paid as follows: P278 million to be paid to IBC 13 employees both active and retired. The amount will be placed in an escrow account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) covered by post-dated checks; P450 million to be paid through the construction and delivery of a new six-story corporate building, two live studios, and a commercial building for IBC 13, situated in the remaining 5,000-square meter corner property in Broadcast City.

The 3.6 hectares will be the site of a residential development to be constructed by Primestate Ventures. IBC 13 employees will be given preferential treatment in the residential development through special discount rates in the purchase of units and will have additional income opportunities in the form of referral incentives.

After 24 years of sequestration, IBC 13 is set to regain lost ground and reclaim its old glory in the broadcast industry.