Where there is smoke, there is fire

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Exactly, that was what happened in Beirut, Lebanon last Tuesday. Video footage on cell phones first recorded a massive cloud of white smoke rising and turning into an orange and fiery mushroom before it exploded like a giant firecracker.

Reporters said the unexpected explosion was from 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate sitting in an unsecured warehouse for the last six years at Beirut’s cargo port that led to the instant death of 137 individuals of various nationalities, more than 5,000 injured and hundreds still missing. The sudden Beirut blast just made 300,000 people homeless.

Losses from the explosion were pegged to be between US$10 billion to US$15 billion, decimating an estimated area of three square miles and affecting around 1.8 million population.

Explosions in the streets of Lebanon are not new, such as those set off by extremists and suicide bombers, but the magnitude of the latest killer is very unusual as this was triggered by accident. Residents are in shock and mourning after the enormous explosion ripped through the city’s port, reaching surrounding homes and businesses as far as four kilometers away. Shockwaves were felt 15 kilometers away.

News reports said Lebanon was already mired in the worst financial crisis in its history prior to the blast. Moreover, it happened at the time of a pandemic that one Lebanese called it “crisis upon a crisis”. Health authorities expect COVID-19 cases in Beirut to rise amid the confusion at rescue sites and hospitals.

As we express our sympathies, volunteers continue to pour in to assist others hand out food and water donated by ordinary individuals. Since a majority of the world population is affected by the health crisis, not all nations can send physical and financial aid, but prayers and moral assistance. Rebuilding will take long. God bless Beirut.

***

“Where there is smoke, there is fire” was also the statement of Senate president Vicente Sotto 111 when asked to comment on the alleged anomalies in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. that were spilled after an online shouting match occurred among officials of the company that eventually led to the resignation of one of them.

If a teleconference between PhilHealth’s president, other company officials and some Cabinet secretaries erupts into heated exchanges over project proposals then there is really hot smoke that has to be smothered before it becomes a full-blown fire.

Senator Ping Lacson said the shouting match online between the company president and board members “says it all.”

If the fight involves the President’s men, then all the more that the alleged irregularities should be investigated by the Office of the President even while the Senate launched its own “full blown” inquiry, even calling for the dismissal and prosecution of erring PhilHealth officials.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said he received a copy of the resignation letter of PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith whose allegations were viewed as very serious matters.

It also appears that Roque, a lawyer who has been into graft probes already heard of reported irregularities over PhilHealth’s P2-billion purchase of an IT system and its allocation of P300 million as reimbursements for COVID-19-related claims from hospitals in the Visayas.

If the money involved were just thousands of pesos, Malacanang and the senators could just close their eyes and let these reported anomalies pass. But the irregularities reached as much as P2 Billion in the IT purchase and the board of directors are against it because of an alleged overpriced.

Hence, Malacanang wants to get to the bottom of the allegations, especially on reports of questionable disbursements of P300 million each for hospitals in the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas despite statistics showing a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases in these facilities.

Certainly, the irregularities worth billions of pesos are no laughing matter as these are directly linked to the physical and mental health of all Filipinos. The erring officials should be put under the custody of Baguio Wright Park, Pacdal pony boy Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Gerald Bantag.