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By Ric R. Puod
and Annie Ruth Sabangan, Senior Reporters
(Second of a 4-part series)
Because Sen. Noli de Castro has publicly
declared owning some companies, The Times looked into the MGB Food
Company Corp. and Bayan Co., Inc.
It found that de Castro faces problems with
documentary compliance at the Securities and Exchange Commission for
both firms.
De Castro, his wife, Arlene, and another
relative, Alan G. Sinsuat, are among the five incorporators. SEC
records show that this company has not submitted the required
general information sheet and financial statements to SEC.
A Times photographer went to the stated address
of MGB Food and found no doughnut retailer or coffee shop there.
MGB’s certificate of registration has already
been revoked, said SEC personnel.
(SEC is the same agency that revoked the
certificate of registration of the AAA Foundation—headed by the
intense de Castro critic Andrew Gonzales—after de Castro’s
prime-time MGB TV program exposed AAA as “a bogus foundation.”
This is touched on in Part 3.)
“Wala nang personality ang MGB Food
company na ’yan. [That MGB Food company has lost its
personality],” said Atty. Benito Cataran, director of the Company
Registration and Monitoring Department of SEC. He said SEC is giving
de Castro’s company until next year to petition for the lifting of
the revocation order and to file unsubmitted but required documents.
Bayan Co., Inc., on the other hand, which de
Castro also listed in his SAL, has not been registered with SEC at
all.
His financial interests, apparently, extend
beyond what he has declared in his SAL. He and his wife control the
Kabayan Noli de Castro Foundation, Inc. They registered it in April
1998 with cash in bank assets of P394,122.24, as seen in its
December 1999 balance sheet.
It received cash donations of P631,034.96. Less
than half of this amount was spent for various charitable works.
Again, like the MGB and Bayan companies, Kabayan Foundation has not
complied with SEC documentation requirements.
ABS-CBN Corp.
Sen. Noli de Castro has been a stockholder of
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. since 1986, with shares of stocks
amounting to P2,057,020. On the Philippine Stock Exchange’s list
of the TV corporation’s 100 top shareholders, de Castro was number
81 in September 2003 and number 79 in December 2003.
Out of the 100 top shareholders listed in
December 2003, 25 are corporations and 75 are individuals.
Some would find it curious that many of the
individual shareholders of ABS-CBN are Chinese Filipinos. There is
nothing strange about that. For it only reflects the general reality
of how wealth is distributed and concentrated in the Philippines.
Of the individual shareholders, 39—or 52
percent of all individual shareholders—are ethnic Chinese. Among
these are Ching Tiong Keng, Leticia Dee, David Pua, and Sy Pio Lato.
Tsinoy business leaders. The last named was tagged in various
newspaper reports, during the rice crisis of 1995, as allegedly
being a member of a rice cartel that controls the rise and fall of
this basic staple’s market price.
Some of de Castro’s costockholders of ABS-CBN
are Sharon Cuneta, Aga Mulach, Jose Guingona, Quezon City Mayor
Feliciano Belmonte, and former ABS-CBN newscaster, Mel Tiangco, who
is now a GMA-7 star broadcaster.
Ironically, Sen. Loren Legarda’s name is not
on the list. Legarda, de Castro’s closest rival for the
vice-presidency, was once an “ABS-CBN baby” herself. She
also benefited from being a star of the Lopez-owned TV network when
she ran for the Senate in 1998.
Her not being named as an ABS-CBN top 100
shareholder, however, does not necessarily mean she is not one.
Legarda’s shares—if she has any—could be listed under the name
of a corporation she owns.
There is no question, according to The Times’
sources in ABS-CBN, that de Castro is perceived by the network’s
talents, workers and management as more truly someone with “the
heart of the broadcaster” than Loren Legarda.
His colleagues see de Castro as more of “an
ABS-CBN baby” than Legarda. Some even admiringly speak of their
“Kabayan Noli” as “the soul of the Philippine radio-TV
media.”
This must be why even after de Castro had won
his Senate seat in 2001, he stopped being a TV Patrol amchor but
continued to host his popular Magandang Gabi, Bayan (MGB) prime-time
public affairs program.
He stopped being the regular MGB host only when
press criticism of his conflict of interest became more shrill and
ABS-CBN network’s political objectivity came under fire. Yet
up to now he is still supposed to be MGB’s host—no announcement
has been made that he has bowed out. He actually ceased hosting MGB
when the campaign became more hectic.
ABS-CBN insiders say de Castro remains a
powerful figure in the network. And many ABS-CBN people do not
hesitate to declare that they will also consider him a dear
colleague no matter if he has become a senator, and becomes vice
president soon and He is also, according to these sources, dearer
and closer to the Lopezes (who are the main owners also of Meralco,
First Gas and other businesses) than any other ABS-CBN broadcaster
who ever ventured into politics.
No vassal-lord ties
The de Castro-Lopez/ABS-CBN relationship is not
that of a vassal worker and his lord. Although de Castro is the
first to admit that he owes a lot to ABS-CBN, insiders say the
company and the Lopezes owe him a lot too. Each has something
large to offer for the other’s benefit. They are, one insider
said, “locked to each other in an embrace of gratitude.”
Critics who dislike both de Castro and the
Lopezes, however, describe the relationship malevolently. They
recall the time—in the premartial-law years—when Philippine
political and economic struggles almost always involved the sugar
bloc, which the Lopezes led. In those days, broadcast (radio mainly
because TV was in its infancy then) was not so much a vehicle for
political decision-making although there already were radio
commentators who were feared. Instead of TV public affairs program
hosts, the Lopez men who worked to promote Lopez and sugar-bloc
interests were the great names in print journalism associated with
the Manila Chronicle. These were effective lobbyists in Congress and
Malacañang.
Insiders told The Times that although ABS-CBN
management could let go of its other equally popular and influential
talents when push came to shove, de Castro is viewed as the most
valuable and indispensable asset. “Noli is ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN is
Noli,” an ABS-CBN talent of many years told The Times.
He claimed that the Lopezes’ bigwigs were the
ones who convinced de Castro to run for vice president. Earlier,
this talent claimed, they had also persuaded de Castro to run for
the Senate. “The process of persuading Kabayan to seek the VP came
to a point when the bigwigs spent nearly a whole day, over bottles
of wine, to get Noli to say yes,” the talent in the know said.
“The Lopez factor in his candidacy is
something in the people’s consciousness. They wouldn’t think
that the family did not have a hand in de Castro’s venture into
politics. Most intelligent people know ABS-CBN’s owners are
helping transform de Castro’s media clout into political clout,”
the talent said.
Some sources in ABS-CBN told The Times they have
witnessed how the Lopezes extend support for de Castro’s
vice-presidential candidacy beyond the normal. “Even the
company’s camera and other equipment, the camera men and security
guards are being used for his campaign,” they said.
This makes it unclear if the network has a
policy of prohibiting its news talents from entering politics. An
former ABS-CBN talent said, “It carries out this policy
selectively.” He explained that talents whose politics are not
clearly pro-Lopez, especially those who tend to be friendly to
critics of the family and its business interests, are discouraged
from becoming politicians and don’t get the help given to those
who are Lopez loyalists.”
Empire within an empire
De Castro’s programs allegedly get
preferential treatment from the company management. MGB has been
line-produced by the de Castros. This means the budget comes from
the network and the de Castros produce MGB as employees of the
company. Yet, the Times’ sources said, the de Castros have always
enjoyed semiautonomy. It does not completely depend on the company
for its operational expenses. And income from the program, the
sources claim, is also divided between MGB and ABS-CBN.
“In our circle the de Castros’ MGB is like
an empire within an empire on Channel 2. To the viewing public
outside, it’s just another program. But MGB enjoys a budget bigger
than that of other current affairs programs. MGB almost always gets
the newest equipment and cars used for production,” said a source.
This privilege, according to some insiders
critical of de Castro, is unfair to the other ABS-CBN current
affairs program.
“MGB is not ABS’ best newsmagazine. It’s
actually a long police report with occasional environmental stories
unlike other programs which are required to painstakingly do
investigative journalism. “Dun palang makikita mo ang preferential
treatment over MGB,” said an insider.
De Castro haters whisper that MGB operates like
a “syndicate” and trains its journalists how to be corrupt.
Accusations of extortion have lately marred the program’s
credibility.
Jim Libiran, however, a credible professional, a
former producer at ABS-CBN who now heads ABC’s news and
current affairs department, says “this is far from the truth”
about those anti-de Castro and MGB attacks.
‘“Kabayan’ has exposed many wrongdoings. I
don’t think he would do such a thing or it would return to harm
him as karma. It is but normal for crusading journalists like him to
be accused of being corrupt. It happens when you become critical of
someone. That person would think you are doing that because you
benefit from his or her enemies,” explained Libiran.
Others have even said that Mrs. Arlene de
Castro’s rise in ABS-CBN, her promotion to vice president for
current affairs, was all because of Noli de Castro’s pull. As VP
for current affairs, Mrs. de Castro had supervisory powers over such
programs as The Correspondents, Assignment, Inside Story, F, Pipol,
Loren, Pinoy Exposed and Knowledge Power.
This attack was immediately disputed by others
who said that Arlene is very competent and deserved her promotion at
ABS-CBN.
“Tita Arlene treats her staff as if they are
her own family. Hindi basta-basta maaapi ang current affairs because
of her. She doesn’t want people to be under her wings. She makes
sure that only competent talents are hired, people who can stand on
their own. As to her competence, don’t forget that she was
actually the one who conceptualized Assignment as the English
version of MGB,” said an insider.
As de Castro appears to be the candidate who
will win the vice-presidency, many of Kabayan’s ABS-CBN colleagues
are awed by his luck.
But for some, Noli’s road to power is not
necessarily the good path for journalists to take. They
criticize Noli for having become a politician and at the same time a
media man.
“The line should be very, very clear. When you
are in the media you should stay in the media or else it would be a
betrayal of public trust,” concluded Ed Lingao, head for
operations of ABC 5’s news and current affairs department.
Not prophet to all in Pola
Although the Lopezes and Noli de Castro’s
colleagues in the media, by and large, admire and respect him, many
people in his hometown of Pola, Oriental Mindoro, only have the
harshest things to say about him.
About 15,000 votes will be cast in Pola, where
many of his kababayan are torn between him and Sen. Loren Legarda.
This is not, however, a case similar to what
Jesus Himself encountered, making Him say to his townmates in
Nazareth: “No prophet is without honor—except in his native
place.”
For the bad feelings some in Pola have against
de Castro are the result of disillusionment of people who have
experienced being treated by de Castro’s “indifference” to
them.
Some Pola residents, who claim to know know him
well, assess him as unfit for the vice-presidency, which is just a
heartbeat away from the presidency.
“In my view he lacks the experience. Many
intelligent people at the national level are fit for the job,”
said Elizalde Sigue, who claims to be de Castro’s distant
relative.
He said de Castro came to the Senate unprepared.
He thinks Noli’s performance these past two years in the Senate
has been mediocre. “It’s not important to us whether he is our
kababayan,” he said. “De Castro just has to make good in what he
does.”
“Making good in what he does” means so many
things. But for the Pola residents The Times talked to, it means de
Castro must look back to where he came from.
The perception of de Castro’s indifference has
also swept across the neighboring municipalities and as far as
Calapan, a city where natural free-flowing water reaches every
household faucet.
“But the water may not be free soon. That’s
already true in many areas here,” said Allan Aquino, “because a
water station has been put up near Bayanan Uno, siphoning off large
volumes of Pola’s water underground and supplying it to residents
of Calapan.”
They worry that they will soon be made to pay
for water. Some Pola associations, looking for stronger
political intervention, traveled to Metro Manila, to the
Senate, hoping to get de Castro to help.
“We went to his office,” said Jose Valencia,
a farmer. “We were never entertained there. We went there spending
our own money and came back here empty-handed.”
Sigue said de Castro’s indifference to his
kababayan is commonly known among Mindorenos. “Mismong taga
Mindoro hindi pinapansin sa Senado.”
Even Mayor Alex Aranas of Pola admitted to The
Times he felt the same way. In one campaign sortie, the mayor
reportedly told Pola residents to vote for Noli, “kahit may kaunti
kayong hinanakit sa kanya.”
De Castro, though, is fairly credited to have
made various contributions to Mindoro’s improvement. He wisely
spent his countrywide development fund to build classrooms and open
the Pola-Naujan road. But rumors persist in his own province
that other provinces may have benefited more from de Castro than the
whole island of Mindoro.
What is commendable about de Castro is that he
did not use his power as a media person and as a politician to
enrich his relatives.
On Quijano Street in Zone II, the senator’s
brother, Adolfo, lives in a dilapidated two-story house. That is
where the senator spent his childhood. “He was shy and humble
then,” recalled Diosdado Sigue, a retired employee of the
Department of the Interior and Local Government. “He had never
been involved in troubles. He was not one of the bad boys who hung
around.”
Rocky Martinez, a vice mayoral aspirant under
the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, said the party would cross
party lines when it comes to supporting the vice-presidency.
“We’re solid for Noli,” he told The Times. “It’s our pride
to have a vice president from Pola.”
Having that pride, however, could hardly be
translated into solid votes for De Castro. “Hindi! Hindi namin
siya iboboto. Ako kay Loren ako,” an angry man who was listening
to the interview snapped at Martinez. “Miniting ko lahat ng mga
kamaganak at kakilala ko na hindi naming siya iboboto.”
The man, known as “Tatay Apo” in Payatas,
proceeded with his litany of frustrating events at de Castro’s
office in ABS-CBN. The man said he wanted to help some Payatas
children through de Castro’s Kabayan Foundation. “Pinapasok kami
ng guard, pero hindi naman kami niya [Noli] hinarap,” he said.
“Nagbigay siya ng P500. Mas malaki pa ang naitulong ko. Tanungin
mo ang mga Mindorenos na pumunta sa Senado at sa opisina niya sa
Channel 2 kung ilan sa kanila ang umuwing luhaan.”
Some have been driven against Noli by some of
his relatives. Some people told The Times that some of
Noli’s relatives became hard to approach when he became a popular
ABS-CBN host and became worse when he became a senator. As a
result, the senator’s sister, Imelda Catapang, lost when she ran
for councilor in Socorro town in the last election. “Pangalawa
lang sya sa kulelat,” Sigue said.
But Manuel Delica, a resident from Socorro, says
another Noli relative, Fe Castro, was friendly, accommodating and
somebody who would “tease you sometimes.”
Part 1 |Part
3 |Conclusion |
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