The Queen’s gambit and the nurses

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

FOR a while, I honestly thought the flip-flopping of President Arroyo finally came to an end when she decided that the Court of Appeal’s decision would finally take precedence over everything else. In fact, when the appellate court decided to allow the oath-taking, her minions fell over themselves making her take credit for the court’s wisdom – following her lead! Duh? Well, it didn’t take long before another unexpected monumental flip-flop was engineered.

A day after the Court of Appeals has given the Professional Regulation Commission the green to administer the oath to the nurses who have been initially cleared to have passed the 2006 board exams, Labor Sec. Arturo Brion went into action. He, representing the GMA government, protested the decision and filed a petition seeking reconsideration to the consternation of the hapless nurses, effectively blocking again their oath-taking.

Why did Mrs. Arroyo again block the oath-taking after assuring the nurses of her “support for the court’s decision”? Well, it appears that there, indeed, still is a bigger agenda that has to be served over and above that of the nurses’ plight.

In this regard, it’s best that the poor nurses and their parents resign themselves to being made to wait much longer and accept their fate as pawns to be sacrificed in the Queen’s gambit. 

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GMA’S TESTED GAMBIT. Apparently now lost in the consciousness of the Filipino is the vaunted strategy of the Arroyo regime using conflict and needless public debate as a means to achieve its ends.

I refer to GMA’s proven “divide, divert and rule” tactic. And sadly for the nurses, their plight has become convenient for one pending political agenda.

Recall how Sigaw ng Bayan came into being.

Malacañang needed a controversial issue to divert public attention from the impeachment and 2004 electoral cheating scandal. A discussion on the charter appeared to be the logical   issue at the time but a mere discussion of a charter change through a constituent assembly alone would surely elicit more animosity towards the Arroyo regime. So, the debate was charged with a controversial “People’s Initiative”!

But did the government think for a minute that the charter change will ensue soon after the Sigaw ng Bayan was unleashed?  Of course not! That was irrelevant since it was created to serve a different agenda.

So while the opposition was scrambling to put up a brave fight to get the impeachment under way, local government officials were actively engaged in national and local debate talking about charter change under the cover of the Bugaw  er  Sigaw ng Bayan advocacy. Well, as history now records it, in the end a disappointed and tired hungry public quietly accepted the might of GMA in Congress, throwing out the impeachment complaint even before they could vote on it.

The bigger agenda then was won, thanks to Sigaw ng Bayan!

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THE NEXT BIGGER AGENDA. Where does the nurses’ plight come into the picture? Aaah the answer is right in front of us.

The life of the raging debate on the nurses apparently will have to be extended until   the Supreme Court decides on the pending petition of the Bugaw er  Sigaw ng Bayan. Expecting a public outcry against a prayed-for court decision upholding the “P.I.”, a happy resolution of nurses’  issue, for want of another plausible issue, would provide the convenient cover to water down protests against an expected unpopular decision. An oath-taking by thousands of ecstatic nurses across the country will effectively obviate a noisy political dissent.

If, on the other hand, the High   Court’s decision is adverse to Sigaw ng Bayan, the GMA government will   have to be spared   the stigma and what   better way to get this done than to see Malacañang presiding over the oath-taking of the nurses having decided with finality to serve the harassed nurses’ and their poor parents cause. Remember: “GMA cares”?

Ergo, I strongly suspect that Malacañang will time the withdrawal of its motion for reconsideration filed with Court of Appeals once the decision on the Bugaw’s er  Sigaw’s  ooops  petition is handed down.

Wanna bet?

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LOOK WHO’S TALKING. I can’t help but be  amused  by  the charge of  Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim that the construction of the still unfinished 4.157 kilometer Dawel-Pantal-Lucao road is attended by massive graft and corruption. The obvious object of his ire is DPWH regional director Fidel Ginez, he who did not capitulate to his royal wish that the planned exit/entry at Lucao be relocated, knowing fully well that the present plan will benefit his arch business rival’s interest, specifically the CSI The City Mall.

The  problem with Mr. “Suddenly Conscientious” Lim’s present disposition is he cannot even come close to debunking  Mr. Ginez’s claim that all the work being done on the project was transparent, from costs to status reports.

      I do recall this paper accusing Mr. Lim of overcharging the city government for the purchase of the 33-hectare lot in Brgy Awai in San Jacinto, the construction of the New Malimgas Market, the purchase of the street lights and the recent purchase of a brand new dredging machine, yet he never offered to submit any public document related to these purchases that might indicate at the very least that these were above board and could pass public scrutiny.

My friend Mr. Benjie, he must know that he cannot claim an iota of moral ascendancy to accuse Mr. Ginez of anything irregular until he has cleared himself of far more serious charges about his own transactions as city mayor.

So, Mr. Lim should do the city a good turn for a change by letting Mr. Ginez do his work and be done with pestering and pressuring others to support his personal business interests.

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/)

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