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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Is Kim Wong Hiding Something? By Antonio C. Abaya August 28, 2001 During the Senate hearing last Thursday,August 23, the controversial KimWong � who earlier had resisted efforts by media to have his picture/video taken � took great pains to portray himself as a legitimate businessman unjustly being dragged into the muck churned up by the Corpus expose on Sen. Lacson. But his statements and responses to senators� questions merely raised more unasked questions than he answered. For example, when Sen. Loren Legarda-Leviste asked him � not once, but twice (and perhaps even thrice) � if he had ever been charged with any crime, he hesitated several seconds before answering, No. Why the hesitation? Why didn�t the senators or media even notice the hesitation? Later on in the day, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco supplied the answer: in the NBI records, said Wycoco, one Hamsin Wong (Kim�s real name) is listed as having been charged with estafa or swindling. When, Director, and by whom? And what is the current status of the case? Wasn�t anyone dying to know? Wycoco also said that in the same records one Kim Wong has been convicted of violating a municipal ordinance under Republic Act such-and-such. When? What was the nature of the violation? What is Republic Act such-and-such all about, anyway? And was Kim Wong ever jailed after that conviction? If not, why not? Again, wasn�t any senator�s curiosity whetted even one bit? I am surprised that neither the senators in the chamber nor the media people in their kibitzing pulpits ever bothered to ask any clarificatory questions from either Wycoco or Wong or Frank Chavez. How can they possibly get to the bottom of things if they do not logically pursue a lead or if they leave ambiguous statements hanging in the air? ***** When Sen. Serge Osmena asked Wong for details about his business, this �legitimate businessman� could not give straightforward answers. He did not know how much his business grossed last year. He said his wife would know. He was not sure if his business was making or losing money or was just breaking even. His wife would know. Osmena should have asked other business-related questions: how many employees does he have, how much taxes did he pay last year, etc. Osmena lost his opportunity. The next time around, Wong will be well rehearsed, by his wife or by Chavez. Sen. Osmena should also have asked Wong about the P40 million loan that Wong said he got from Allied Bank. Perhaps the Allied loan officer who approved that loan should be invited and asked why he gave such a big loan to someone who so obviously doesn�t know much about his business. From Wong�s abysmal ignorance of his own business, it is apparent that it is just a front for something else, whatever that may be. Allied Bank, let everyone be reminded, is owned by Lucio Tan, crony par excellence of the disgraced President Estrada, and contributor of P50 million (other big contributors: Mark Jimenez, P100 million; the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce, P40 million) to the Philippine National Police Foundation, according to Lacson himself in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, issue of June 30, 2000. The PNP Foundation, a private fund-raising organization, is claimed by Lacson to be dedicated to acquiring communications equipment for the police. In my article in a January 2001 issue of TODAY, I suggested that it was really organized to raise money for Lacson�s presidential bid in the year 2004, and that �PNP� also stands for �Ping Next President.� ***** When asked, Wong admitted that he had �lent� a Smart Nokia cell phone in 1999 to then PNP Chief Gen. Lacson and that he was paying its monthly bills. Or rather, it was his wife who �lent� the phone and paid the bills. No one asked how long this friendly gesture lasted and how much the generosity cost him. When asked by Sen. Cayetano why he did not �lend� a cell phone to, and paid the bills for, the current PNP Chief Larry Mendoza, Wong could not give any answer at all. Perhaps he has to ask his wife. The most obvious answer to that impish question is that Wong was doing business with Lacson but does not do any business with Mendoza. What kind of business, we do not know and can only guess. One, perhaps, that requires utmost secrecy in communication, made impervious to electronic eavesdropping by the use of scramblers/descramblers? In the light of the recent scam in which several of Lacson�s recently axed-PAOCTF honchos were arrested trying to sell electronic bugging and intercept equipment � owned by but not yet fully paid for by the government � Wong�s cell phone �gift� to Lacson takes on a more sinister tone. Part of the contraband equipment is said to be some very sophisticated listening devices that can eavesdrop on as many as 500 cell phone conversations simultaneously. Jinggoy Estrada is said to have complained once that even he was being bugged by Lacson�s men. The dominant waltz in the Wong-Lacson pas-de-deux may be: Do not let others do unto you what you do with impunity unto others, including your own stupid friends. |