PARTY CONFUSION: When asked, many of us cannot tell the political party to which this or that government official belongs.

For the information of readers, we journalists should properly tag senators, congressmen and other elective officials as to their party affiliation. But I often don’t. Because I usually can’t.

Many of them have jumped over the fence too often I cannot remember or keep track where they are now. They have shed their party uniforms too often, I no longer care what they now wear.

Party affiliation has become irrelevant to what politicians really are deep inside or where they pretend to stand on public issues.

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NILOLOKO TAYO!: So now we see senatorial hopefuls crisscrossing partisan lanes in their frantic hope to land a party nomination that could carry them to or back to the Senate.

Which party finally adopts them and foists them on the electorate is not important. They — politicians and their parties at the moment — are all the same. They are as indistinguishable from one another as crabs trying to crawl out of a bamboo basket.

To rationalize the gathering into one slate of candidates of varied, sometimes contending, ideologies, election campaign organizations are no longer called parties. They are now marketed as coalitions, united fronts, unity tickets, and such evasive labels.

Actually, niloloko tayo. They are making a fool of us.

How do we the people retaliate? One thing we can do is: In evaluating candidates, disregard the party, ticket or coalition. Focus on the person, the individual candidate, and evaluate his fitness to the position he is seeking.

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PHC AUDIT: The Senate can investigate government entities all it wants, but it should show a little restraint, and respect, when looking into operations of private firms.

Otherwise, as in its inquiry into the dispute at the Philcomsat and Philcomsat Holdings Corp. that saw a senator ordering an audit of the two firms, the credibility of the entire Senate is put in question.

Many businessmen and lawyers are shaking their head at the order of Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee on government corporations and public enterprises, to audit the PHC despite the fact that it is a private corporation.

Unlike Philcomsat which has been sequestered by the government, PHC is a publicly-listed corporation. While government nominees sit on its board, it is only due to the fact that 80 percent of its equity is owned by Philcomsat.

But PHC is a separate entity altogether from Philcomsat — and it is not a sequestered firm.

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REDUNDANT AUDIT: An audit is a purely business matter which is best left to the company concerned.

No wonder, the PHC audit ordered by Gordon is widely seen as a form of harassment disguised as part of a legislative inquiry in aid of legislation, a much-abused congressional all-purpose device.

The question being asked around is who could have asked Gordon to go after PHC, and why.

His order is unnecessary since PHC, being a publicly-listed firm, undergoes audit year after year as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange.

If the Senate, or anybody, wants to see the audited financial statements of PHC, these are readily and easily available without anybody having to raid its financial records.

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AUDIT OF CHOICE: Philcomsat, on the other hand, has not been audited since 2000, fanning speculations that the people managing its affairs have already dissipated its once bountiful assets.

And, btw, the audit was ordered by Gordon to be done by an external auditor of choice by Philcomsat and that this entire process is to be shouldered by PHC. That is queer.

The Philcomsat asked for the audit, so why should it be charged to PHC? Is it because, as is widely believed, Philcomsat has been bled to penury by Marcos cronies that it cannot even spend now for an audit?

As for the Philcomsat audit, if the Senate badly wants a credible audit, it should hire an independent audit (and pay for it) instead of leaving it to Philcomsat to choose its own auditor. Nobody trusts inside jobs.

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LEADERSHIP: When not busy plotting his own political ascendancy, as in the coming senatorial elections, Senate President Manuel Villar may want to talk to and rein in some of the more fiery horses in the stable.

The key point is that the Senate should not be used for purely personal ends, especially in private business disputes. The blatant way some senators take sides erodes respect for the entire chamber.

It sounds good to hear that each senator is a virtual walking Senate, meaning each member’s independence is respected. But such a free-fire zone going awry does not speak well of the leadership in the chamber.

The Senate is a collegial body of equals. But, in private, maybe the Senate president could advice members to refrain from using their positions, and their committees, to advance private interest.

If the Senate president is afraid to accost abusive senators because their votes are crucial to his keeping his perch at the top of the totem pole, then the Senate is in trouble.

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PHC GAINS: Officials of PHC said that their company has not suffered any financial setback as a result of mismanagement but in fact took in profits as a result of its investment in call center operations and other financial endeavors.

Saying that funds of the Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) and Philcomsat are the ones dissipated, they claimed that the attacks on PHC are intended merely to divert focus from the mismanagement of POTC and Philcomsat.

In its last presentation before the Senate, PHC officials led by Enrique Locsin and Philip Brodett confirmed that their investments in TCI, a 120-seat call center at SM City Manila, posted a P2.8-million profit last year.

TCI is a fully-owned subsidiary of PHC with P25-million (equity) investment and P70-million advances. Its officials said the projected net income this year of the joint-venture with the SM Group of retail magnate Henry Sy Sr. could reach P30 million.

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LEGAL EXPENSES: For his part, Locsin clarified reports that PHC released P2 million for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the Sandiganbayan.

That amount is part of payments for the firm’s mounting legal fees, Locsin said, claiming that the number of cases involving PHC with the rival board in Philcomsat and POTC has reached 53.

Its corporate expenditures, they added, can be checked in the audited financial records submitted to the SEC and the PSE.

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BACKGROUND: On March 14, 1986, POTC and Philcomsat were sequestered by the government through the Presidential Commission on Good Government.

At the same time, the PCGG filed a case for reconveyance of ill-gotten wealth against Jose L. Africa, Potenciano Ilusorio and other respondents before the Sandiganbayan. The action is still pending as SB Civil Case No. 0009,

Also in 1986, 40 percent of IRC and MLDC was surrendered to the government by Jose Campos, since the firms were organized by him for then President Marcos. Locson said this was confirmed by Mrs. Imelda Marcos in her sworn statements in G.R. No. 141796.

He said POTC wholly owns Philcomsat. In turn, Philcomsat owns 80 percent of PHC, a publicly-listed company. From a P10-million business in 1996, PHC has amassed assets now valued at P1.5 billion, with no debt to its name.