MANILA, Philippines – A man initially charged with plunder, but downgraded to bribery, was granted bail after denying it twice to the same man, a major general in the AFP whose former chief of staff also said he had no inkling of plunder in his office.

Regular grant

So what’s wrong with bail, granted 19 times, for stealing cars worth much less than R303 M? It can’t be more! One shiny luxury car or SUV is priced between (rounded off) P2,000,000 and P4,000,000. It would take theft of more than 100 such cars to reach P303 M.

Fit for a hanging

But plunder at one time carried a penalty equivalent to or fit for a hanging job before the death penalty was abolished. Now there’s a move to restore it like it was allowed in 38 states in the US.

There’s grinding of teeth at the Palace for this indiscriminate giving of bail to known criminals a dozen or more times. There’s also a gritting of teeth (including dentures) at coffee shops for asking the accused to return P135 M in exchange for converting plunder into bribery and immediate grant of bail of P60,000 (probably in cold cash only).

The bad rule

The rule is in case of doubt, grant bail, without counting the risk of flight after bank deposits disappear like a mist for: 1) posting bail, 2) bargaining for a lesser offense, or (3) paying other miscellaneous expenses/accounts to unidentified persons.

Hybid rice?

Who said it’s cheaper to import rice from Thailand, Vietnam, and China than to produce it here? For 10 years or more before June 30, 2010, our “brokers” who have cornered the privilege to import rice have also exceeded their authority by adding $60 to $120 per metric ton and keeping silent about it.

16-digit calculator

One guest with a 16-digit calculator computed the overprice ($60 to $120 per metric ton) by multiplying like this, $60 x 10,000,000 metric tons = $600 M x P45 = P27 B, if limited to $60 per metric ton only. If the average overprice is $90/MT, the total jumps to $900 M x P45 = P40.5 B.

More regulars and guests gritted their teeth loudly punctuated by more and longer cuss lines stronger and dirtier than the plain expression “PT” (viewed as a figure of speech, expression, or metaphor in some court decisions and not libelous).

No official report yet

The probers have no official figure on the subject and the total overprice may yet exceed close to 10/12 percentum of the national budget for 2011.

That’s the reason Palace advisers spent sleepless nights and days waiting for the probers’ computation. This great grandmother of all scams may yet tell us all why we’re poor and hungry all these years.

Manipulation

If rice imports could be manipulated to yield an incredible amount in overprice, we can apply the special rule of manipulation to most government transactions/contracts involving tens of millions or a few billion.

If this general rule has been applied successfully and regularly more than 10 years before June 30, 2010, then the blame is on all of us for sending to high offices people who were not morally fit to be in any kind of public office.

Dreadful word

In most reports on government contracts and huge expenditures, the one word that makes citizens shake in anger is the word overprice – applied to all purchases by the national and local government officials, elective or appointive. It’s easy to spot them as shown by records of the Sandiganbayan.

Still uncertain

But brokers of rice imports are of a different breed. They deal with one item that can differentiate starvation from famine. The estimated amount of overprice is beyond belief. Let’s wait for the final word from the Palace: 1) if the unseen overprice is $60, $120, or $175 per metric ton, 2) if the exact quantity is 10 M metric tons, 3) if the rice that rotted was caused by oversupply or excessive imports, and 4) if culprits can be charged with plunder, and many more. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com).