Category: Pork Barrel

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. is a man from Cavite who followed his father’s footsteps but made a name for himself. He was said to be a defender of the poor and oppressed citizens. He made this claim true by entering the field of the political offices in 1995 when he became the vice governor of his hometown, Cavite. He strongly supported and implemented anti-drug programs as he was the Chairman of the Cavite Multi-Agency Anti-Drug Council (CMAC). With his hard-work and efforts, he was rewarded a Medal of Valor and an International Award for Honor from International Narcotics Enforcement Offices Association, Inc. In the same position, he supported projects about protecting the environment as the chairman of Task Force Bantay Likas Yaman. He was entitled as a provincial governor in Cavite in the year of 1998. In this year, the old image of the city of Cavite as a very well-known murderous city and was transformed into one of the most peaceful cities of the country. In the month of September of the same year, he joined the fisher folks which is a rescue operation and pulling distended bodies from the sea. This outstanding performance of Governor Bong Revilla Jr. earned him recognition from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DTC). He greatly improved social services in the whole province of Cavite through different projects and programs with long term advantages like the establishment of the Cavite Rescue 161, Cavite Computer Center, Cavite-Korea Friendship Hospital, Cavite Sports Complex, and the Cavite Convention Center. During this administration, the Proposed Conceptual Provincial Development Plan of Cavite or Vision 2020 was also prepared and introduced. In the year of 2002, he enragedly fought video and music piracy as the Chairman of Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB), now the Optical Media Board. He made no exceptions in chasing and stopping this illegal practice. The VRB had been given a chance to perform 3480 major operations including routine inspections throughout the country which delivered over 5 billion pesos worth of goods taken, convinced 2 videotape pirates, 5 large-scale distributors and retailers and 21 optical disc pirates.

This accorded him an international recognition by the Motion Picture Association based in Hollywood, USA. In the year of 2004, he fortunately made his way to enter politics, and through his chairmanship, he was involved in the corruption in the government. He revealed over delayed accomplishments of understructure projects and recommending the termination of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who are irresponsible and forced the lowering of such entertainment taxes. And during his first three years in the Upper House, he had the highest number of bills passed into law. His legislative duties did not stop him from being the mad he was known for, a man of action. He did not confine himself and relentlessly reached out to the poor. And in the year of 2010, he had gathered the highest number of votes in the Philippine Electoral History and even passed the number of votes from the elected president. He continuously hounds to infrastructure development, community empowerment, lower tax, travel safety, and social justice. Do not misunderstand, this essay is not all about the good things that the Ex-Senator did in his glory days. Rather, this essay is about the reason why Ex-Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. should not be one of the leaders of our country. The reason why we choose to stand together as a group is to stop him from committing his hideous crimes once again.

As students, as the youth, we strive for better governance for us, our future children, and the children of our children, and most of all, for the citizens of our Country, the Philippines.

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., was arrested for Pork Barrel Scam. Pork Barrel Scam is the calamity of government money. They would propose projects and request money for the said project but they don’t have the intention of actually getting the project done. They keep the money for personal uses rather than governmental use. The office of the ombudsman also said that Senator Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles (also known as the Pork Barrel Queen) were also involved. He was arrested on June 20, 2014 issued by the Sandigan Bayan. It was proven that Revilla was indeed a part of this scam when Napoles witnessed and orally stated that Revilla was a part and that she had she had worked with him in this.

He was brought to the police custodial center at the Camp Crame, the same day with Enrile and Estrada. They have been in prison since but Revilla was recently acquitted because the court’s vote resulted in him as not guilty for taking P224.5 M from the people of the nation.

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., was arrested for graft. Graft is the act of taking advantage of your political position. The Sandigan Bayan first division reset its trial on former Sen. Bong Revilla’s 16 graft cases for his verdict in his plunder case. Revilla’s bribery case involves £517m of a priority development aid fund for all countries for ghost projects.

After all the crimes the Ex-Senator committed, if baffled the citizens of the Philippine Constitution that he is still enabled to have a chance in being re-elected, being backed by an abundance of politicians and surprisingly still attain various supporters. This does not only reflect how ineffective our justice system is but also reflects on how a good name and well-off background can save you from atonement. Ex-Senator Bong Revilla Jr.’s run for the imminent 2019 elections caused violent reactions from the netizens but it was brushed off and seemed unimportant in the process of grooming Revilla Jr. for the state’s elections.

We know that every paragraph of this essay has a different style of writing. This might seem very inappropriate. But we, as a group, wanted each of our voices to be heard not just for us buy also for the people that was heavily affected by his grave mistakes for this country without filter. We believe that we have to strive as a nation in eliminating corruption and unjust treatment and implementation of the law that until now is still repeating itself until we may fall to a regime. Taking action is not just reacting online but also doing movements that will reconstruct the government if the time comes that authorities no longer comply with its nation. This movement is not only for him but also for those who have robbing the money of their fellow countrymen due to their selfish desire and thirst for power to rule the country by doing malicious acts for themselves. We should eradicate our personal desires to overcome this conundrum not only as law abiding citizens that aspire to have a just country but also as countrymen, as Filipinos. Graft is the acquisition of money, power, and etc. by dishonest and unfair means. A.E. Politicians use their authority in order to gain a favorable position for personal gain by means of power. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. was facing 16 graft cases he continued to face, all of which are related to the Pork Barrel Scam but still allowed Bong Revilla Jr. to post bail for his temporary freedom. Associate Justice Ma Dolores Gomez Estoesta was one of the two justices of anti-graft court who wanted to convict Ramon Revilla Jr. Reasons due 2004 to 2010, cash assets were not declared in Rmon Revilla Jr.’s statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. Bong Revilla Jr. was detained at Philippine National Police Custodial Center in 2014 for plunder and allegedly took P224.5 M in kickback. In this case, Bong Revilla Jr. shouldn’t be able to run for any political positions due to past cases of graft and plunder. His record is already dirtied with proven cases against him. In a professional scene, a proven fact of abusing their authority is a fact that cannot be erased and forgotten. Other cases such as the scandal and plunder further prove the point of being Bong Revilla Jr., being untrustworthy as well.

Corruption is everywhere and will always be a part of our daily life. Whether it is minor, such as bribery, or a major one, like money laundering, we can’t deny its existence. According to Bardhan (1997), “Corruption is defined as the misuse of public power for private benefit” (p. 27). In the Philippines, the infamous and most extensive type of corruption is political corruption, which we hear and see almost every day on the news. Not only major politicians are involved in political corruption scandals but minor politicians are involved, as well. With that in mind, corruption in the Philippine government has and will always exist, but there are some corruption scandals that stands out above the rest.

To begin with, it is said that the Marcos family’s wealth and properties was illegally obtained through embezzlement and graft. According to the Presidential Commission on Good Government, “the Marcoses were able to acquire an amount of which is believed to be US$ 5 – 10 Billion” (“Traces of Marcos Ill-Gotten Wealth Abroad,” 2017). Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. committed his crimes as a politician by manipulating electorates to turn the votes in his favor, and by using ill-gotten money to buy power. Marcos is particularly famous for utilizing Martial Law in his 21-year dictatorship (1965 to 1986) in the Philippines, which he then used to steal large companies such as Meralco (Manila Electric Company) (PCGG, 2017).

Another major political scandal is the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, commonly known as ‘Pork Barrel Scam’, which was masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles. After Benhur Luy, the principal witness who exposed Napoles’ P10 Billion Pork Barrel Scam, cases such as plunder and embezzlement were then filed not only against Napoles but also to her cohorts, involved senators and other involved family members (Carvajal & Aning, 2013). The PDAF scheme also involved the creation of fake NGO (Non-Government Organizations) to acquire funds. The funds acquired are then said to have been wired to various Californian accounts by Napoles and 5 other members.

Lastly, in the span of 9 years, the Arroyo administration has amassed over 7.3 billion pesos from various corruption scandals. One of the notable scams in which Arroyo was involved is the Fertilizer Fund Scam in 2004. The scam, with former DA undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante as mastermind, is said to have diverted over 728 million pesos to Arroyo’s campaign instead of the main purpose of the funds. However, in 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman cleared Arroyo as a suspect, saying that evidences pertaining to Arroyo as a suspect is inconclusive (Torres-Tupas, 2014). Another corruption scandal which involved Arroyo is the ZTE-NBN Corruption scandal in 2007. The scandal involved 329 million dollars given to ZTE, a Chinese company, and to the proposed government-managed NBN (National Broadband Network). Again, Arroyo was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan as the evidences was not enough and insufficient.

Above are some of our country’s most famous corruption scandals. As we can observe, the scandals do not range in a specific timeline alone. Conclusively, corruption exists at all times, and some even go unnoticed by us, except for the people involved.

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. is a man from Cavite who followed his father’s footsteps but made a name for himself. He was said to be a defender of the poor and oppressed citizens. He made this claim true by entering the field of the political offices in 1995 when he became the vice governor of his hometown, Cavite. He strongly supported and implemented anti-drug programs as he was the Chairman of the Cavite Multi-Agency Anti-Drug Council (CMAC). With his hard-work and efforts, he was rewarded a Medal of Valor and an International Award for Honor from International Narcotics Enforcement Offices Association, Inc. In the same position, he supported projects about protecting the environment as the chairman of Task Force Bantay Likas Yaman. He was entitled as a provincial governor in Cavite in the year of 1998. In this year, the old image of the city of Cavite as a very well-known murderous city and was transformed into one of the most peaceful cities of the country. In the month of September of the same year, he joined the fisher folks which is a rescue operation and pulling distended bodies from the sea. This outstanding performance of Governor Bong Revilla Jr. earned him recognition from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DTC). He greatly improved social services in the whole province of Cavite through different projects and programs with long term advantages like the establishment of the Cavite Rescue 161, Cavite Computer Center, Cavite-Korea Friendship Hospital, Cavite Sports Complex, and the Cavite Convention Center. During this administration, the Proposed Conceptual Provincial Development Plan of Cavite or Vision 2020 was also prepared and introduced. In the year of 2002, he enragedly fought video and music piracy as the Chairman of Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB), now the Optical Media Board. He made no exceptions in chasing and stopping this illegal practice. The VRB had been given a chance to perform 3480 major operations including routine inspections throughout the country which delivered over 5 billion pesos worth of goods taken, convinced 2 videotape pirates, 5 large-scale distributors and retailers and 21 optical disc pirates.

This accorded him an international recognition by the Motion Picture Association based in Hollywood, USA. In the year of 2004, he fortunately made his way to enter politics, and through his chairmanship, he was involved in the corruption in the government. He revealed over delayed accomplishments of understructure projects and recommending the termination of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials who are irresponsible and forced the lowering of such entertainment taxes. And during his first three years in the Upper House, he had the highest number of bills passed into law. His legislative duties did not stop him from being the mad he was known for, a man of action. He did not confine himself and relentlessly reached out to the poor. And in the year of 2010, he had gathered the highest number of votes in the Philippine Electoral History and even passed the number of votes from the elected president. He continuously hounds to infrastructure development, community empowerment, lower tax, travel safety, and social justice. Do not misunderstand, this essay is not all about the good things that the Ex-Senator did in his glory days. Rather, this essay is about the reason why Ex-Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. should not be one of the leaders of our country. The reason why we choose to stand together as a group is to stop him from committing his hideous crimes once again.

As students, as the youth, we strive for better governance for us, our future children, and the children of our children, and most of all, for the citizens of our Country, the Philippines.

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., was arrested for Pork Barrel Scam. Pork Barrel Scam is the calamity of government money. They would propose projects and request money for the said project but they don’t have the intention of actually getting the project done. They keep the money for personal uses rather than governmental use. The office of the ombudsman also said that Senator Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles (also known as the Pork Barrel Queen) were also involved. He was arrested on June 20, 2014 issued by the Sandigan Bayan. It was proven that Revilla was indeed a part of this scam when Napoles witnessed and orally stated that Revilla was a part and that she had she had worked with him in this.

He was brought to the police custodial center at the Camp Crame, the same day with Enrile and Estrada. They have been in prison since but Revilla was recently acquitted because the court’s vote resulted in him as not guilty for taking P224.5 M from the people of the nation.

Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., was arrested for graft. Graft is the act of taking advantage of your political position. The Sandigan Bayan first division reset its trial on former Sen. Bong Revilla’s 16 graft cases for his verdict in his plunder case. Revilla’s bribery case involves £517m of a priority development aid fund for all countries for ghost projects.

After all the crimes the Ex-Senator committed, if baffled the citizens of the Philippine Constitution that he is still enabled to have a chance in being re-elected, being backed by an abundance of politicians and surprisingly still attain various supporters. This does not only reflect how ineffective our justice system is but also reflects on how a good name and well-off background can save you from atonement. Ex-Senator Bong Revilla Jr.’s run for the imminent 2019 elections caused violent reactions from the netizens but it was brushed off and seemed unimportant in the process of grooming Revilla Jr. for the state’s elections.

We know that every paragraph of this essay has a different style of writing. This might seem very inappropriate. But we, as a group, wanted each of our voices to be heard not just for us buy also for the people that was heavily affected by his grave mistakes for this country without filter. We believe that we have to strive as a nation in eliminating corruption and unjust treatment and implementation of the law that until now is still repeating itself until we may fall to a regime. Taking action is not just reacting online but also doing movements that will reconstruct the government if the time comes that authorities no longer comply with its nation. This movement is not only for him but also for those who have robbing the money of their fellow countrymen due to their selfish desire and thirst for power to rule the country by doing malicious acts for themselves. We should eradicate our personal desires to overcome this conundrum not only as law abiding citizens that aspire to have a just country but also as countrymen, as Filipinos. Graft is the acquisition of money, power, and etc. by dishonest and unfair means. A.E. Politicians use their authority in order to gain a favorable position for personal gain by means of power. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. was facing 16 graft cases he continued to face, all of which are related to the Pork Barrel Scam but still allowed Bong Revilla Jr. to post bail for his temporary freedom. Associate Justice Ma Dolores Gomez Estoesta was one of the two justices of anti-graft court who wanted to convict Ramon Revilla Jr. Reasons due 2004 to 2010, cash assets were not declared in Rmon Revilla Jr.’s statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. Bong Revilla Jr. was detained at Philippine National Police Custodial Center in 2014 for plunder and allegedly took P224.5 M in kickback. In this case, Bong Revilla Jr. shouldn’t be able to run for any political positions due to past cases of graft and plunder. His record is already dirtied with proven cases against him. In a professional scene, a proven fact of abusing their authority is a fact that cannot be erased and forgotten. Other cases such as the scandal and plunder further prove the point of being Bong Revilla Jr., being untrustworthy as well.

Corruption is everywhere and will always be a part of our daily life. Whether it is minor, such as bribery, or a major one, like money laundering, we can’t deny its existence. According to Bardhan (1997), “Corruption is defined as the misuse of public power for private benefit” (p. 27). In the Philippines, the infamous and most extensive type of corruption is political corruption, which we hear and see almost every day on the news. Not only major politicians are involved in political corruption scandals but minor politicians are involved, as well. With that in mind, corruption in the Philippine government has and will always exist, but there are some corruption scandals that stands out above the rest.

To begin with, it is said that the Marcos family’s wealth and properties was illegally obtained through embezzlement and graft. According to the Presidential Commission on Good Government, “the Marcoses were able to acquire an amount of which is believed to be US$ 5 – 10 Billion” (“Traces of Marcos Ill-Gotten Wealth Abroad,” 2017). Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. committed his crimes as a politician by manipulating electorates to turn the votes in his favor, and by using ill-gotten money to buy power. Marcos is particularly famous for utilizing Martial Law in his 21-year dictatorship (1965 to 1986) in the Philippines, which he then used to steal large companies such as Meralco (Manila Electric Company) (PCGG, 2017).

Another major political scandal is the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, commonly known as ‘Pork Barrel Scam’, which was masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles. After Benhur Luy, the principal witness who exposed Napoles’ P10 Billion Pork Barrel Scam, cases such as plunder and embezzlement were then filed not only against Napoles but also to her cohorts, involved senators and other involved family members (Carvajal & Aning, 2013). The PDAF scheme also involved the creation of fake NGO (Non-Government Organizations) to acquire funds. The funds acquired are then said to have been wired to various Californian accounts by Napoles and 5 other members.

Lastly, in the span of 9 years, the Arroyo administration has amassed over 7.3 billion pesos from various corruption scandals. One of the notable scams in which Arroyo was involved is the Fertilizer Fund Scam in 2004. The scam, with former DA undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante as mastermind, is said to have diverted over 728 million pesos to Arroyo’s campaign instead of the main purpose of the funds. However, in 2014, the Office of the Ombudsman cleared Arroyo as a suspect, saying that evidences pertaining to Arroyo as a suspect is inconclusive (Torres-Tupas, 2014). Another corruption scandal which involved Arroyo is the ZTE-NBN Corruption scandal in 2007. The scandal involved 329 million dollars given to ZTE, a Chinese company, and to the proposed government-managed NBN (National Broadband Network). Again, Arroyo was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan as the evidences was not enough and insufficient.

Above are some of our country’s most famous corruption scandals. As we can observe, the scandals do not range in a specific timeline alone. Conclusively, corruption exists at all times, and some even go unnoticed by us, except for the people involved.