Punchline
Cayetano and Lacson
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
WHAT does one make of the Filipinos generally as a people in times of crisis or when times get rough?
Selfless and caring. Resilient and buoyant. Spiritual and prayerful. Tireless and dedicated. Generous and amicable. Self-sacrificing and humble. Courageous and spirited. Easily traits of a people destined to be great.
We see these traits in many each time a calamity strikes a community, particularly natural calamities. Or when tragedy strikes members of families. Your heart pours out to both those in need and those who readily give of themselves in whatever form. Neighbors are treated like families. Victims are taken in like long lost relatives. Rules and laws are observed as helpful aides for survival.
Wonder of all wonders, these same traits disappear soon as the sun shines, the banks and schools are open, the markets, malls and parking lots are full, TV and radio sets are blaring, roads and highways are cleared. Neighbors are nuisance. Rules and laws are suddenly viewed as obstacles to the right to freedom. Opportunists rule, Cheating and lying are tolerated until caught. Traits of a people destined to self-destruct?
Methinks these are traits of a unique people, with confused culture after being colonized and invaded by foreign powers in the past… destined to be survivors.
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WORTH WATCHING. The investigation on the P10 billion PDAF scam is worth watching. It will beat watching “Be Careful with My Heart” and “My Husband’s Lover”.
The names of characters that will be played out in days ahead may actually be known personally to you, very much like how fans know the characters in the country’s two most popular TV series: “Be Careful with My Heart” and “My Husbands’ Lover”! For sure, the revenues from the two popular local TV series will pale in comparison to the amount of kickbacks that would be traced to the individual guilty lawmakers. Even the love proclaimed by Janet Napoles, the prime suspect and poster villainess, for her family will outclass the love professed between “Ser Chief “and “Maya” on ABS-CBN, and “Eric and Vincent” on GMA7. (Yes, I enjoy listening to friends, family and household talk about the recent episodes of the two).
Consider how the political blockbuster’s plot in the national landscape has been shaping up. Janet Napoles, has gone into hiding and her lawyer justified it. Her children have become reclusive after a daughter earned sudden (and well-deserved notoriety) for her Facebook and Instagram postings, flaunting her access to a ritzy lifestyle.
Then, the social media network became home to a mob of netizens demanding for the blood of Napoles and her accomplices among the senators and congressmen.
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CAYETANO AND LACSON Then came recent suggestion of Senate Majority Leader Alan Cayetano to abolish the pork barrel as instituted. It immediately drew the line between those who rely on it to keep their political power and those who despise those who do.
Then Cayetano’s out of the box suggestion – to make former senator Ping Lacson as the chief investigator of the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scandal – has sent heads spinning to a dizzy particularly those who hate what “kamay na bakal” Lacson stands for. There is no middle ground for appreciating the former senator’s brand of public service. His followers love him, his detractors hate him. They hate him because he is much too independent for anyone’s comfort. He can’t be influenced for the wrong things which is why Cayetano has him in mind in spite of nasty exchanges between them before the 2010 election. There is no mistaking about a deep mutual respect between the two.
Note, however, that prior to Cayetano making his suggestions public, most senators and congressmen kept to themselves, obviously waiting for the issue to die down and lest they incriminate themselves even before any form of investigation is launched. The not-surprising exceptions were Senators Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada who were initially glib as they nonchalantly denied any hint of misdeed on their part. Revilla quickly branded the publicity about the scandal politically motivated. His wife-congresswoman, naïve as she is, did not hold back when she felt threatened by a move to scrap the pork barrel. She said she would not give up her family’s personal resources to care for her constituents and would only agree to spend the people’s money! Now comes hubby Bong’s demand that the signatures on the official documents be examined! Hmmm. Guilty or…guilty?
Estrada, on the other hand, who proved himself to be efficient as senate protempore, came out with his “Who me? Not me. Then who?” posture. For all that the wit and bravado he shows during investigative hearings, he says he cannot be expected as senator to verify the real status of all the beneficiaries of his pork barrel! Duh? He doesn’t have the staff to do it as well? If he, as a senator, believed he couldn’t do it before he distributed the people’s money, he should have been the first to forgo his pork barrel allotment and joined the ranks of Ping Lacson and Joker Arroyo. Both knew they could not possibly keep track of their would-be beneficiaries’ activities (and the corruption that accompanied these) so they gave up their pork barrel allotments.
Since Cayetano filed the bill seeking to abolish the pork barrel and wrote to COA his intent to turn over all documents in his office on his pork barrel for closer audit, his colleagues are finally on their toes, intent on riding on the momentum for reform. Sen. Chiz Escudero followed suit with his own bill seeking the scrapping of the pork barrel. Expect more to join the bandwagon.
So folks, don’t touch that tuner. Program your mind to follow the despicable plot of the shameless among the “you-know-who” in the P10 billion scandal, of course, after you’ve had your daily fare of “Ser Chief and Maya” and “Eric and Vincent”! Be entertained as you begin to understand what the word “rage” means.
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IMPLICATIONS OF NO-PORK. As we go to the press, PNoy announced, finally, the abolition of the pork barrel after dilly-dallying on the issue!
While I don’t have the full details as yet, the only thing I can surmise if it’s a total abolition with no qualifications, is at least 60% of congressmen and councilors today will not seek reelection in 2016! Why so? Because most have no background in the business of legislation but fully understand and love how 20-40% kickback works.
The effect of the presidential abolition will cascade down to the LGUs who have made it a practice to allocate their own pork barrel. Corruption is nipped there!
I do hope, too, that the SK members finally learn that good governance is about public service foremost and not about kickbacks from basketballs, signage and waiting sheds, that it’s about setting examples on moral values, standing up for what is right and get physically involved in campaigns against illegal drugs, prostitution, and productive citizenry.
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DAGUPAN-WATCH. Let’s wait and see if Dagupan councilors will continue to bury their heads under the ground playing bakes-bakesan (see, hear, speak no evil) deluding themselves that they don’t have to investigate ongoing anomalies at the city hall. People see it as a dereliction of duty on their part…I’m not a bit surprised that under a tighter watch, the market collection increased tremendously. The talk in the city hall is that collection efforts have not really changed but that market officials can no longer pocket amounts for daily take-home like they used to over the past years, What say you Mr. Aguedo Sta. Maria?… Mayor Belen should already know by now that it doesn’t help to be too lenient with lawbreakers. The illegal fish pen operators had no qualms re-stocking after they harvested in violation of their agreement with city hall. There is only one way to deal with unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt city officials – fine them or sue them promptly, that’s PNoy’s way to keep his tuwid na daan a reality.
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