The Lozada Fever in Pangasinan

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

The Lozada Fever is beginning to catch fire in the province. But it’s nothing like the “Paquiao the Pacman Fever”.  There is a whale of a difference there.

The Pacman Fever brought the nation together to hail the renowned boxer who crushed his foes with his mean steely fists making Pinoys everywhere proud. It is about the man.

The Lozada Fever is not about the man but a national outcry for honesty in governance. That man named Jun Lozada is in the middle of it all is incidental. It could have been just anyone in government who had the courage to pay the price for spilling the beans on his bosses by standing up to all sorts of intimidation, humiliation and harassment. Lozada simply mirrored what most Pinoys wish for themselves – to be brave when and where it counts most.

“If he can be brave, I, too, can!” is the silent affirmation by those catching the Lozada Fever.

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In Pangasinan, it didn’t take long for the province’s officials to queue in line to loudly profess their loyalty to the Queen.   

That they did it on cue surprises no one, in fact, they were expected.

That only 28 mayors (out of 44 mayors) made it a point to be present in that meeting says a lot about the real sentiment now prevailing in the province. Evidently, many of the town executives (and I suspect including many of those who approved the resolution) are now uncertain as to how they should regard the series of cover-ups that the Arroyo government launched.

Sure, the mayors have had their share of “deals” but am sure they, too, were shocked by the insatiable greed that the President and her men demonstrated so far, as evidenced by the NBN-ZTE deal. It never occurred to them that someone like Engr. Lozada had to be explicitly directed to “moderate their greed”.

I’m sure many of the mayors present in that San Fabian meeting shared Engr. Lozada’s description of his own “deals” as president of Philippine Forest Corporation. “Compared to the ZTE deal, mine was like a school intramural,” he mused.

Ergo, I expect the same 28 mayors to manifest their support eventually for that new leadership embracing drastic and major reforms if that should come to pass anytime soon.

That’s what the Lozada Fever is all about.

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AGCO LA! On Friday, February 29, the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese will lead those afflicted  with the Lozada Fever in the province in a march around the city streets to make it known that Pangasinenses have had it with the massive corruption and cover-up by the Arroyo government.

The AGCO group is the same movement in the province that called for the resignation of then President Erap Estrada. Inspired by Archbishop Oscar Cruz, it was manned by those who believed that corruption under the Erap leadership had to end, that the country would be better off with then Vice President Gloria Arroyo.

I just hope that those who formed the backbone of the AGCO but have since become GMA loyalists for their own reasons, will still have the courage to fight for the right, and “walk in the light.”

See you there!

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DOING IT RIGHT BY JOE DE V.  Somebody ought to tell our beloved former Speaker that he’s doing it all wrong.

So far, our Joe de V’s initiatives to re-invent himself have not earned any serious consideration by the Pinoys, not even by the opposition.

If only he would take the cue from his son Joey, and wife Gina, he’d soon find out that all is not lost in his quest for legacy. So far, he has not changed his political habit one bit since his unceremonious ouster in the House. He is still the same politico who rattles off motherhood statements, bidding others to join his moral revolution but clearly afraid to do or say anything that would incriminate himself.

The moral revolution that he speaks of cannot be launched or finished by his creating a council manned by persons with supposedly proven probity. A JDV creation simply cannot fly.

In sum, a moral revolution to be credible and useful, it must be organized by others, not by him! Besides, what can the council he created expect to accomplish when no one like him is ready to spill the beans of the massive corruption in the government?

What most people expect from our Joe de V is to confess his sins (as in “I was involved in ____ “), implicate whoever was with him in those deals, naming the officials who robbed our people blind, who pocketed the millions (as in “I knew how the project was costed -the people who pocketed commissions were – I was given ____”), Moreover, he is expected to tell all that he knows about the “Hello Garci” episode.

Too much to ask?  Perhaps. But greatness for a man like Joe de V demands no less – to be honest with one’s self and his country. It’s the only way to launch a true moral revolution!   

Only then will a council for the moral revolution that he speaks of will become relevant and a necessity.  The council can be that body that will plan to help encourage more whistle-blowers like him as witnesses in order that the guilty can be prosecuted and punished, form the private prosecution panel to work with the Ombudsman, raise financial rewards for whistle blowers, etc.

Yes, am still praying for Joe de V’s great legacy.   

(Readers may reach columnist at punch.sunday@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/punchline/
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