Punchline
Speaker JdV’s serious dilemma
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
Up until the end of the 13th Congress, Speaker Joe de V remained the most envied congressman around.
Today, his is an image not only of an embattled political leader but one who finds himself divided between his loyalty to his President and his undying love for his family.
Hence for the first time in their lives, his political allies and detractors are both counting their blessings, thankful that they are not in his shoes today.
***
Speaker JdV earned his golden political spurs doing what he does best — seeking compromises for win-win solutions, whatever the costs, whatever the situation, whatever the odds! He was always expected to deliver the political goodies to everyone’s satisfaction, and deliver he did with aplomb.
But his problems with his President today is far from an easy one, in fact, he has never faced a dilemma such as this. Those close to him understand fully well what he goes through his waking hours, 24/7. On one hand, he has to contend with the vigilance and prayers of his loved-ones, particularly those of his ever loyal wife Gina, his son Joey and his beloved KC, she who continues to watch over him. They want him to go for the truth, and not risk compromising it only because he wants a win-win situation with his President.
On the other hand, JdV knows only too well what real politik is. He has to contend with the political vultures waiting to see him bleed dry any moment now. They hate the truth, any truth, for it compromises what they lust for – power and money. They threaten JdV with untold consequences should he dare fight for the truth.
I pray, the Speaker will see the light and will soon see things clearly through the eyes of his loved-ones for they want nothing but only a distinguished legacy for him.
***
CORRUPTING BARANGAY & SK OFFICIALS. On Oct. 29 Monday, we will again troop to the polls just five months after doing the same exercise that was marked by more cheating and violence, only this time there will be more of the same just to elect barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials.
Why should the barangay and SK elections be different? Over the years, our politicos have transformed the two organizations into cradles of corruption.
Just note how most of the candidates conducted their campaign. They were no different from the way the trapos among our politicos conducted themselves.
And to think, the framers of the barangay and SK law made us believe that the two groups are supposed to be “apolitical”!
***
Our politicians now rue the day they created this two-headed Frankenstein that won’t stop now at blackmailing them, threatening them with payback time in 2010 should they reject requests for campaign funds. Worse, killing another candidate is now almost always an option.
One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand what motivates most candidates for barangay and SK posts when the post of a barrio captain 35 years ago was considered a thankless job that nobody wanted.
It’s all about livelihood via corruption. It’s about having access to the Internal Revenue Allotment due barangays and earning kickbacks from their favorite projects for their respective barangays.
And to think the government spends precious billions just to administer the elections of both political units in the communities, you ask for what? To strengthen the new institutions for corruption in the grassroots?
Unless our lawmakers take steps soon to insulate these two community groups from the destructive influence of politics and pork barrel, we don’t need terrorists to bring us down to our knees.
Our legislators must remove the IRA allocation for barangays and leave the full responsibility for their development to the mayor and the sanggunian.
Then, dispense with the allowances and budget to be expended exclusively by the officials of SK alone. Their projects in the communities must win the approval of their municipal and city councils, and implemented by their town/city agencies, not by them!
***
BARAAN MUST ACCOUNT. An irate motorist who fell victim to the towing and clamping racket launched by the Lim administration has this to say about the reported plan of the Dagupan City Council to conduct its own investigation into the racket perpetrated by the city hall:
“If the council is really serious in getting to the bottom of the illegal towing racket, then Mr. Raffy Baraan, the city administrator of Benjie Lim, should be the first to be invited to the committee’s investigation. Alam nya lahat ang arrangements. Sina Robert Erfe-Mejia as POSO chief, Digna Liwanag as head of the One-Stop business center, etc. can be expected to invoke their duty as having simply followed what they presumed to be a legal order and that will already surely stymie the investigation. Baraan must be made to account, too.
“Then for the investigation to get anywhere, si Councilor Michael Fernandez must allow his vice-chairman, Councilor Joey Tamayo to conduct the investigation while he is busy attending to the affairs of he Philippine Councilors League. Parating absent pa naman sa session si Michael!”
Amen.
***
EXPENSIVE, RISKY PR. Guv Spines got it all wrong when he thought that simply being known to be closeted with his officials buckling down to work is all that is needed to govern.
His advisers failed to point out to him the importance of communicating his plans and his activities to his constituents. If at the end of his tenure he finds out that he is perceived worse than his predecessor, then he will only have himself to blame.
It might be useful for him to know that being transparent with the media is the cheapest form to maintain good relations with it and still come out ahead in terms of public perception.
What usually breeds corruption in the media is a government that has schemes to hide and therefore needs to be shielded from public scrutiny. Only a scheming governor needs to bribe media practitioners who are known to be in the business of “attack-and-collect; defend-and-collect” (AC-DC) to lie for him.
Guv spines, you might as well know that the day you start the payola will be the day you start believing your own lies. Then you will have problems you wish never started.
His administrator Raffy Baraan knows whence I speak. He and his former boss tried to hide the stench of the Barangay Awai deal, the MC Adore deal, the JLD towing deal, the dredging machine deal, the Malimgas market deal, and look where that led the legacy of Benjie Lim, now touted to be the best mayor that Dagupan lost in shame.
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/
Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com . For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
