Nag-beer muna sila
Erik at Manny

At last, and after more than two years of nagging from the public, the media and the opposition, the Office of the Ombudsman has announced that it is filing charges against former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez. The charges are heavy ones: graft, extortion and falsification of public documents. They are despicable enough against any ordinary character, but a secretary of the Department of Justice, a cabinet member?

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Former congressman and now philanthropist of the year, Mark Jimenez, must be grinning from ear to ear. It was he who blew the whistle on Perez, and supplied the evidences that the Ombudsman's office had been hoarding for so many months. It is not only Perez who is involved in the charges, it appears to be a family affair, because his wife, Rosario, and her brother, Ramon Escaler, are included in the case. It appears that all those reports that were hitting the headlines about two years ago had basis. Now it is up to the Perezes, et al, to disprove them.

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Remember those items about the alleged deposit made in a Hongkong bank account by Jimenez in the name of someone said to be a front for Perez? The Ombudsman's report now confirms that such amount had indeed been entered into the account of the so-called dummy. It also confirmed that it had traced the trail of such money - a cool Two Million Dollars - up to another bank in Geneva Switzerland, where all big or illegally acquired cash end up. The Ombudsman even noted the number of the bank account: 338-118 in the name of Mrs. Perez and her brod.

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So the Swiss banks do give numbers and record names of foreign depositors? I once read in a book that those who do not want to be identified do not give their names or signature specimens, they only write out in words the number of their account when they withdraw or deposit. Like, the Perezes would only have to write "Three hundred thirty-eight - One hundred eighteen" in the space provided for depositor's signature in the withdrawal or deposit form. Times must have changed, or the author of my book was just romanticizing.

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They say it is now all-systems-go for the postponed ASEAN Summit in Cebu. An Agence France Presse report yesterday said, however, that workers are still rushing up last minute jobs on the multi-million Cebu International Convention Center. So far, there has been an eerie silence from the usual rally and protest groups. What are they up to now? Maybe they have been intimidated by the close-circuit cameras posted all over the place to catch any pranksters.

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I heard, though, that the government had to shell out several hundred millions more for the summit site because the president noted that the roads and highways leading to it are not very well-lighted. So P310 million more was released to install lighting that would make night seem like day in the place. What a beautiful sight it must be when everything is in place. But is it true that some heads of state may not come, or will not be staying for the whole event? After the postponement, some had already indicated that they had other engagements, equally important, on those days. Well, vamos a ver

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Meanwhile, also in Cebu, businessmen are lamenting the rise of the peso against the dollar because it means their products that are being sold to the U.S. market will fetch less than that they had expected. The group called the Confederation of Cebu Exporters is the one feeling it most and calls what had been the delight of the administration, "disastrous". Well, as the saying goes, "One man's meat is another man's poison…"

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So Manny Pacquiao's Mexican foe did come to town and arrived in Manila Sunday night. Although the matter was supposed to be hush-hush, reports still came out that Manny and Erik Morales did meet at the Diamond Hotel where they were both billeted that night and, in fact, had fun drinking San Miguel beer together. What about the rumors that the ad supposed to have the two of them with trainer Freddie Roach for SanMig had been cancelled? True or false? Anyway, Erik flew on to Amanpulo next day and Manny went back to General Santos City after that interesting beer party.*

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