Strange days have found us Strange days have tracked us down They're going to destroy Our casual joys. We shall go on playing Or find a new town... Strange days indeed here in Manila at the beginning of the Year of Our Lord 2001. The Feast of the Three Kings, also known as the Feast of the Epiphany in this Catholic country, signals the end of the extended holiday season and the first full business week of the new year. But the salient question may well be: What business? Ever-more bizarre events continue to unfold on the Senate floor, a random mix of Greek tragedy, Mexican telenovela, roller derby, and the Three Stooges. While entertaining in a strange sort of way, the antics are doing serious damage to the international image of what is supposedly Asia's most vibrant democracy. Combined with the specter of tainted tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai party about to defeat Mr. Clean (but ultimately boring) Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai in Thailand, world opinion of Southeast Asian democracy is taking a tumble this January. Herewith a random and idiosyncratic commentary generated in haste as this consultant gears up to chase contracts this week despite the inclement political and economic weather. Speaking of Stooges The blatant bias of Senators Enrile, Santiago, and Osmeña is so extreme they might as well be wearing cheerleader outfits with "ERAP" stamped on their cute little sweaters in big red capital letters. At the same time, the slime factor for the supposedly first-rate team of defense attorneys is escalating. Courageous witness Ocampo, under questioning from Senator Legarda, casually dropped the cover-up bombshell that Attorney Mendoza's office was the venue for shady goings-on involving trying to switch the Jose Velarde account back to Jaime Dichaves several days after the impeachment proceedings were underway. Mendoza's feeble and pathetic story that he didn't know what they were doing there does not, to say the least, hold water. According to him, George Go (Chairman of one of the nation's leading banks) and Jaime Dichaves (wealthy businessman crony) just happened to drop by and he really, truly had no idea what they were doing there. And they just happened to have Ms. Ocampo, a senior and highly responsible Trust Department VP, along with them. So Attorney Mendoza, of course, let them use his conference room for whatever it was they needed to do. (Sure, fellas, just make yourselves at home, don't make a mess on the table). Maybe their own conference rooms were booked for sales presentations? Maybe they just thought it would be cool to stop by Mendoza's office? Or were they just passing by and came in off the street? As Ralph Kramden would have said, Hardy Har Har. At the same time, the opposition senators are equally biased in the opposite direction. There are only 22 Senators involved in this soap opera, and their reactions are quickly becoming formulaic, sort of like characters in a poorly designed video game. Call it politics by the numbers. In short, the term "Senator Judges" is an oxymoron and all this "Your Honor, Your Honor" jazz is so much hooey. Most of the Senators pay a lot more attention to the sound of their own voices and making sure they are playing well to the national (and international) audience than they do to the growing mountains of incriminating evidence. Bottom line: the politicization of the trial is so extreme that most experts now prognosticate either an outright acquittal or at best a mistrial. Certain Senators have taken so much payola and owe so much utang that they see no way to acquit, regardless of the evidence. One barkada of mine, a well-placed informant, told me that Erap has some Senators "by the short hairs" in the form of huge outstanding debts with PNB that can be called in at any time, and the multi-million payoffs are generating visions of wealthy retirement. The Reshuffle In a last ditch effort to plug the holes in the listing ship, a Palace coup by the "aggie mafia" is now a fait accompli. Ed Angara, former Secretary of Agriculture and long time pal of Erap, will probably be the most powerful "Little President" (Executive Director) in history following the resignation of Ronnie Zamora to run for Congress. There's a huge power vacuum in Malacanañg right now, and somebody has to fill it. Looks like Angara sees himself as Mighty Mouse flying through the Saturday morning cartoon sky ("Here I come to save the day!"). Angara's home run includes dislodging Eki Cardenas from the powerful Presidential Management Service post (hey, they control the pursestrings) in favor of his very young (29 years old) Girl Friday Maria Cecilia "Macel" Fernandez and installing his hand-picked successor at Agriculture. According to the party line, the new team will focus on the three p's of pabahay (housing), pagkain (food) and peace and order. Ernie Maceda is reportly a very unhappy camper, particularly given his aspirations to Little Presidency or at least the key Agriculture post. Instead, his brief stint as Presidential Spokesman (during which he did his best imitation of Goebbels' Big Lie strategy) is now history and he's making noises about abandoning ship in a huff. Reportedly he had a late night meet with Erap this weekend, and the Palace is trying to find a big enough post-acquittal bone to keep Manong Ernie around a little longer. But for now call him Grumpy. Strange eyes fill strange rooms Voices signal their tired end The hostess is grinning Her guests sleep from sinning Hear me talk of sin And you know this is it. Clinical diagnosis Time: Is there a shrink in the house? Just before New Year, Erap threatened businessmen with retribution for their sins, an act bound to be counterproductive. His sabre-rattling will probably just encourage bankers and cronies to come forward with more incriminating evidence to save their own skins. Erap firmly believes that the perfumed Makati elite crowd is out to get him, as evidenced in yesterday's (January 6th) statement that he would take action against the cabal spearheaded by the evil Makati Business Club. MBC is headed by Ricardo Romulo, who wears a dual hat as the new Chairman of Equitable (having been with the bank in exceedingly high-up and responsible positions for over two decades, he was the obvious choice for the Go family to help rescue their own potentially sinking ship). Quoth the hero of the flick: "Just you wait. As I've said, I'm not protecting myself here, I'm protecting the democratic processes." Sure, Jose, and Bill Clinton never had sex with that woman either. But the real looney this week is "Brenda," none other than Miriam Defensor-Santiago. It's hard enough to get used to her annoying sing-song voice, funny pronunciation, and overbearing attitude, but she really overdid it last week when she tried so hard to intimate earnest young attorney Jasmin Banal. Seems the young professional had left a prestigious and high-paying job in a law firm with Malacanañg connections for a lower-paying position in a firm where a senior partner just happens to be a leading opposition figure (not to mention a leading light in the Darth Vaderish MBC). The Esteemed "Your Honor" Senator argued that the young attorney's move flew in the face of logic, given that the standard career path for a UP law grad would be to move ineluctably up the pay ladder no matter what. Her accusation simultaneously insulted the Philippine legal profession and the UP School of Law. Senator Drilon promptly stood up and got Banal to state that the job change occurred four months before Chavit Singson starting singing, followed by Raul Roco's concise defense of the integrity of the Filipino lawyer (ah, then you do agree that law is a noble profession and that it's not all about money?). Santiago's reaction was classic, including bulging eyes, quivering voice, the full fake Shakespearean mien. I believe my dear departed mother would have called it a conniption fit. She had clearly taken the repudiation by her two collegaues personally, even though nobody attacked her directly (and she has crossed swords with Roco for many years). However, in a tip of the hat to Filipino culture and desire to avoid direct confrontation with her colleagues, she had to find a scapegoat. She found not one but three in the persons of certain members of the gallery who had the nerve (and bad timing) to sit up on their haunches, crane their necks, and look at Santiago "provocatively." The trial (soap opera?) was held up for an hour while the Senators caved in to Santiago's impassioned demands that the offending parties be ejected from the courtroom. (Miriam has since backed down, and the rich ladies in question will probably be back in the courtroom tomorrow). The weird is getting weirder, and dementia, psychosis and paranoia seem the order of the day. Where are those guys with the white suits and straitjackets? Peer Pressure and Second Thoughts Felipe Medalla, Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), appears to finally be wavering in his so-far stubborn allegiance to the administration. His former colleagues at the UP School of Economics keep sending delegations asking him to step down out of respect for the noble dismal science. He has to date declined to do so. Medalla's public pronouncements continue to sugar coat the numbers, with projected growth figures that give other economists in town a good chuckle (as they grit their teeth). I had lunch the other day with an ex-NEDA Director General, one of the UP mafia. He happens to be part of the group lobbying Medalla to get the heck out and one of several economists making the rounds of Manila's corporate boardrooms with Powerpoint presentations showing in no uncertain terms just how poor the patient's prognosis is and how bleak the alternative scenarios are. His summary: "Philip really has no choice, I'd do the same thing in his position. But he's really not helping the country or his own career." There's some evidence that Medalla may belatedy be seeing the light. At least he stated publicly that a quick resolution to the problem is essential to save the economy from a dire fate indeed. Perhaps he's laying the groundwork for a better-late-than-never resignation. Strange days have found us And through their strange hours We linger alone, Bodies confused, Memories misused, As we run from the day To a strange night of stone. 2001: A Spaced Odyssey As this momentous week begins, the whole country hangs in a state of suspended animation reminiscent of those astronauts sleeping in 2001 on their way to Jupiter. Unfortunately, Bowman was the only astronaut who survived, and he had to fight his way back in through the security lock and damn near died before disabling HAL's brain. Actually, the computer's calm and measured commentary ("Stop - Dave. Will - you - stop? I'm afraid . . . I'm - afraid, Dave. Dave. My - mind - is - going . . . I can - feel - it. I - can - feel- it . . . There - is - no - question - about - it . . ." followed by "A Bicycle Built For Two" gradually slowing to a subsonic ramble reminds me a tad bit of Senator Santiago, but that's another story . . .) In an earlier Pearl, I described Philippine politics as being "...more fun than a barrel of monkeys" (Filipino Political Theatre). Well, the "barrel of monkeys" phrase still fits like a well worn shoe, but "fun" is not in the equation for the business community, myself included. Most of us are just cheering for this crap shoot to move on to a proper denouement, and the sooner the better. Nobody's asking for cosmic truth a la Stanley Kubrik, but a little sanity somewhere along the way would be a welcome change. Note: Credit to The Doors Music Company and thanks for the late Jim Morrison for posthumous psychic permission to quote the lyrics of Strange Days.

...from Clarence Henderson's Pearl of the Orient Seas

Clarence Henderson Henderson Consulting International Manila Philippines

Clarence has had over 20 years of consulting experience in New York, Los Angeles, and the Philippines. He brings to the forum many years of experience in the Philippines and his monthly column integrates the experience of working in the Philippines with business tips earned the hard way! You can learn more about Clarence by clicking on his photo.

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