Tales from the Darkside of Alfredo Lim - part II

The Selective Purge of Manila’s red Light District

In 1988, as WPD chief, Gen Lim launched a series of almost nightly raids on the “fun establishments” in Ermita considered to be Manila’s red light district. Whereas residents were initially willing to extend support to his vow to purge Manila of suspected prostitution dens, Lim ultimately received a lot of flak for the raids. One of the reason was the high-handed and brutal manner in which the raids were conducted. Bar girls were routinely treated as animals and subjected to unspeakable indignities and a wanton denial of their most basic human rights.

Another reason was the growing perception that the raids were selective. Suspected prostitution and illegal gambling dens situated in Chinatown especially those owned by Sy Pio Lato and other Chinese businessmen were spared by Lim and his men. Even in Ermita establishments owned by Chinese were bypassed by the raiders as in the case of Big City and Impierno night clubs. What enraged the non-chinese club owners was the fact that the raids appeared to be instigated by the Chinese-controlled tourist Belt Businessmen’s Association led by Mrs. Doris Ho and another Chinese Mrs. Narzalina Lim who was then acting secretary of the Department of Tourism. In some of these Chinese-owned clubs, police elements identified with Lim were frequent customers. According to some Filipino owners of the raided and padlocked establishments, the harassment was part of a plan to put them out of business. Apparently, the game plan was for the raids to usher in the secret Masterplan – Ermita Rehabilitation which would have allowed favored Chinese investors to invest in tourism projects in Ermita.

Lim and His Untouchables

The selective raids in Ermita reinforced the growing belief that Lim was wont to cast a jaundiced eye out for some favored Chinese businessmen belonged to a priviledged lot whose business interests were being protected and furthered by Lim. During Lim’s tenure as the chief of the WPD, it was reported that no WPD operative dared to arrest or apprehend Chinese businessmen even for simple traffic violations. Almost all the Chinese businessmen and traders of Manila had Lim’s calling card and anyone who had one was virtually immune from arrest. Lim’s calling card was their talisman of invincibility against any traffic regulation and ordinance. Any policeman who committed the grave mistake of arresting these Chinese “friends” of Lim often ended up being immediately and unceremoniously reassigned. This was the “erring” cop’s reward for being true to the thankless job of enforcing the law.

Sy Pio Lato, Lim’s Most Notable Untouchable

Of these Chinese “untouchables”, perhaps none was more favored than his bosom friend and “kumpadre”, Sy Pio Lato. The celebrated close bond that exists between Alfredo Lim and the low profile Sy Pio Lato is a prime example of how Lim’s untouchables have capitalized on their closeness to Lim the better to further their vested interests. Sy Pio Lato, aided by his kumpadre and protector Lim, set into motion his systematic plunder of the treasury of the City of Manila. A clear example is the anomalous awarding of the garbage contract to Leonel waste Management, a firm reportedly owned by Sy Pio Lato.

According to the published information, among others, the contract calls for the payment of 1.08 million pesos daily to Leonel for their clean-up efforts. This amount is more or less 100 per cent higher than the 600,000 pesos daily that the City of Manila used to pay the Metro Manila Authority(MMA) daily for the same services. The very fact that Lim switched contractors immediately upon assumption of office and at twice the rate is more than enough to raise the eyebrows of a lot of people. The issue would have not been raised if Leonel showed above average performance in its services, but the complaints of Manila residents on poor quality of service being rendered by the firm refutes any claim to efficiency by the company.

To further compound the woes of the graning taxpayers of Manila, some Manila councilors have cried foul over the alleged payment to Leonel waste Management for the services rendered for the period of February 1-28, 1993. Considering the history of the awarding of the contract, the anomaly here arose from the fact that the contract was signed on February 22 or 23 of the said year. As such, Leonel Waste Management can only legally claim for 7 to 8 days of services rendered (if there were any). Due to this, the City of Manila paid something close to 20 million pesos for ghost services!

As this was enough, the most glaring disregard for the law in the Leonel deal is the fact that Leonel was awarded the contract even though it had not been registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC). This clearly violated Manila Ordinance No, 92-386 which expressly stipulates among others, that companies seeking to enter into contract with the city government by way of bidding must have been existence legally at least six(6) months prior to the bidding proper. Leonel Waste Management Corporation was duly registered and granted legal existence by the Securities and Exchange Commission only on 26 August 1993 or 6 months after it was awarded the contract. Thus, the City of Manila decided to choose the bid of an entity which gained legal existence only 6 months after the bidding! This disregard for an ordinance must have cost Sy Pio Lato quite a tidy sum, something that is reportedly within the vicinity of P 200,000.00 a day payment for Lim!