Punchline
JDV, a loser or the next hero?
By Ermin F. Garcia Jr.
Our indefatigable Joe De V has found himself in a sticky catch-22 situation in the unfinished business of the senate investigating the NBN-ZTE scandal.
Seemingly, he will be damned if he testifies, damned if he doesn’t.
But everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he reaches this crossroad especially after his stinging rebuke of the Arroyo administration immediately after his unexpected and unceremonious ouster as House Speaker.
He said he will “tell all in due time” but since then he has not so far said anything of value to redeem himself, or to help the country move on.
Now that the cat is out of the bag, that he was present in that meeting of Mrs. and Mr. Arroyo with ZTE officials after a golf game, the time has come for him to deliver as he promised. Yet to this, JDV again responded with his familiar “tell all at the right time”.
Indeed, timing is everything for him if he wants to come out of it a big winner in our people’s eyes. But since he did not bother to qualify what he meant, his seemingly ‘safe’ statement boomeranged on him. The public is taking his statement to mean that he was waiting for some “negotiation” from the Palace for his revelations, leading people to ask – “Is this about a ‘win-win’ for him again?”
In fairness to the man, he must seriously weigh the pros and cons of his next move. Everyone knows that once he steps inside the Senate as a whistleblower, he can expect everything thrown at him (including those that make the core of Malabanan’s business) by Mrs. Arroyo’s attack dogs and yes, some of the opposition who knew of his ‘win-win’ ways. It will be every man for himself, particularly JDV!
So when and how he decides “to tell all” will determine whether he’ll come out of it a loser and a heel, or a hero and a patriot.
From where I sit, the right thing for him to do is to be forthright, and the right time is to do it no matter what the obtaining political situation is. He must seize the opportunity to take the moral high ground by telling all that he knows not only about ZTE but other government contracts including the North Rail project where he is suspected to have benefited a great lot.
The worst thing that can befall him is if he finally says he has decided “to talk and tell all” but only after an attempt by the Palace to preempt him by implicating him in another stinking deal that he allegedly dipped his fingers in. This bad timing would certainly make him look like another low life vindictive racketeer who simply wants to get even.
I see an opportunity for JDV to redeem himself as Jun Lozada did, or to earn his political damnation by the Filipino people as Press Sec. Toting Bunye and CHED’s Romy Neri did.
His next move could just be the rallying point for the Pangasinenses to make him their next governor by acclamation or a cause for another huge disappointment in him after being disgraced as an ousted House Speaker.
He is now standing in the middle of the crossroad. Pangasinenses and the rest of the nation await his next move.
***
THE UNDELIVERED PGMA PROMISE. As the old Filipino adage “Aanhin mo ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo” goes, it’s likely that the touted promised help announced by President Arroyo when she came to assess the damage wrought by typhoon ‘Cosme’ will be no different.
After the photo-ops and announcement in front of Guv Spines and other local officials, nothing has been heard of since from either Malacañang or the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Not even an advice on how the promised P500 M worth of galvanized iron sheets would be allocated between Pangasinan, Zambales and La Union was received.
An obviously embarrassed governor, he who was first to be enthused by the promise, could only offer a lame excuse for his chief boss when asked on national radio last week if the promised help had been delivered.
By his tone and subsequent meeting with local mayors pleading with the latter to do a “sariling-sikap” as in “tayo-tayo na lang”, Guv Spines knew that the promised help will be just that – another promise that may come too late or simply to be forgotten.
The lament of the ignored and snubbed mayors who rushed to meet Ate Glo correctly decried could be ominous. They bemoaned having been used as “decorations” (they meant “props”) to boost the President’s ego on making the promise during her visit. Well, it appears today that the presidential promise was for media’s consumption, not for the Pangasinenses!
Meanwhile, the task of rebuilding the schools in time of the June 10 school opening now rests squarely on Guv Spines’ shoulders. Can he do it without Ate Glo? And would he still make her look good after succeeding without the promised help?
(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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