By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

THE thieves at the House of Representatives are going for broke!

They not only paid themselves millions weekly for doing the QuadCom hearings, but they would not hold themselves accountable for detaining resource persons who refused to give them the responses they needed to build on cases of corruption and EJKs against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Then, in the recent bicameral conference, the thieves doubled up on the AKAP item giving themselves each at least P200-M and more for the conspirators, (and equally for the senators to boost their reelections and would-be allies in the party list sector, courtesy of Sen. Grace Poe)

To fund the double-up, the thieves slashed proposed budgets for the DepEd, ChED, and other state universities, in violation of the constitution that mandates education must have the highest budget allocation every year. If that wasn’t enough, they wanted the cash “surplus” of PhilHealth for themselves, so they did the unthinkable – completely removed PhilHealth’s budget.

The thieves justified the zero budget for PhilHealth and DepEd, ChED by pointing out that since their 2023 budgets were not fully expended, it goes to reason that they don’t need 2025 budget.  Unprecedented rule on budgeting.

But of course, they didn’t care to find out why they failed to spend all their allocated funds. They just went to allocate the funds for their AKAP.

Curiously, Comelec chair George Garcia knows that vote-buying is a violation of the Election Code. Was he naïve to believe that the use of the AKAP funds is not a violation? The Election Code prohibits the implementation of any program during election and campaign period.  What makes the AKAP, ayuda for entrepreneurs lacking capital, different from construction infra projects that will benefit contractors?

The thieves did not stop there! They doubled up on the budget for DPWH construction projects in all districts in the country. Translation: All congressmen and party lists will earn 30%, from all contracts whether it’s about building or repairing bridges or roads or markets!

Then they finally did what was suspected all along with the creation of the QuadCom. While the brouhaha was growing over what they did with the 2025 budget, they exploded a political bomb as a distraction. The thieves recommended that PFRRD, Senators Bong Go and Bato dela Rosa, and other retired senior PNP officers be charged for crimes vs. humanity in connection with the alleged EJKs during the war on drugs of the Duterte administration.

NOTE: The thieves are only recommending, not filing the cases! They leave it to DOJ to file the cases based on statements alone made during the hearings on the drug war. So, without lifting a finger, the thieves’ announcement distracted discussions on the 2025 budget.

I pray none of our province’s congressmen are among the conspirators.

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TARGETING PHILHEALTH. The zero budget for PhilHealth came after P87.9-B was already taken out of PhilHealth. The thieves still wanted P29-B but the Supreme Court stopped it.

Once these funds are transferred to the National Treasury the Marcos administration can choose to “spend” it on ‘unprogrammed’ projects, which no one can stop.

The justification that the budget in 2023 was hardly spent is clearly a case of inept and incompetent management, and, therefore, not an excuse to withhold a budget for PhilHealth.  Instead, PBBM should fire the Health Secretary and senior officials of PhilHealth for failing to plan and misusing the funds. 

But it’s not going to happen because the PhilHealth president is a relative of First Lady Lisa Marcos.

It appears the reason why no major programs are being introduced is because it has been the practice of PhilHealth board of directors to simply keep reinvesting the billions and the interests earned are shared by the directors including the Health secretary.  This I believe explains the questions in part raised against Sen. Riza Hontiveros for receiving millions when she was still a director of PhilHealth. She has not responded to the issue.

So wonder no more why there are more greedy thieves in PhilHealth as well.

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MORE BOBO PINOYS, BUT RICHER THIEVES. In the past, budgets allocated for education were way lower than what was prescribed in the Constitution because of the administration’s priorities.  Nonetheless, the budgets for DepEd, ChEd, and state universities were approved in full.

This time, the Marcos administration outdid its predecessors and decided to slash the budget proposed by the Senate. Never mind that the thieves were reminded of the constitutional mandate, they couldn’t care less. The amount deducted could have led to more than double the construction of a number of classrooms and the implementation of improved modules under DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara.

Obviously, the thieves don’t want educated Pinoys who can stand up to them.

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FAILED GUV’S CORPORATE STYLE? Guv Mon-Mon Guico must have realized too late that his chosen corporate style of management does not sit well with all, particularly the province’s Barangay Health Workers (including municipal health doctors) whom he took to task for performing below his expectations for his GuiConsulta program. His health program has not registered the projected number of registrants and blamed the municipal doctors for not doing enough during the Provincial Health Board Meeting last Monday.

In a videoclip going viral, the Guv is shown losing his cool after receiving a cold response. The guy was so angry he warned the doctors  “F**K YOU… …”Don’t f**k up with this program (Guiconsulta)!” he shouted at his audience. Whoa!!

His GuicoConsulta is his first people-to-people engagement and 2025 election is just around the corner.

Obviously, his corporate style failed to determine how he can motivate the provincial health workers to do their best for him. He must remember that these doctors were not among those he sponsored on a free group tour to USA. 

Also, he should be reminded that provincial workers are employed by the local government, NOT by any Guico enterprise.  The municipal doctors and health workers didn’t deserve that treatment from the governor.

His conduct was, indeed, that of a corporate CEO, telling off his underperforming company officials and employees and rightly so if they were his employees.  But they are not his employees and his office is not a private corporation.

At the very least, he owes them a public apology.

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Follow our ‘Punching Duo’ podcast with our PUNCH columnist Gonz Duque every Saturday 10.30 a.m. in our Sunday Garcia FB account. Replay is on Wednesdays.

My PUNCHLINE talk with IFM Manager Mark Espinoza is every Monday 6.30 am. Watch us live on IFM-RMN Dagupan’s FB account.

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