God save the Queen

March 3, 2008

Jun Lozada, as he himself admitted, was an unwilling witness, before he was “abducted” at the airport. He might turn out to be an unintended hero should the quest for truth succeed, despite the indiscretions he committed during his stint with the government. Secretary Romulo Neri, on the other hand, is not a mean soul but is now being portrayed as a villain — unpatriotic and unprincipled. The ZTE-NBN controversy has made household names of a number of people — Lozada, Madriaga, Abalos, Atienza, Defensor, Razon, Gaite, Atutubo, etc. — heroes or heels depending on which side of the political fence you belong. Most of them I am sure would have chose not to have been dragged in this scandal if they had a choice. Some of them have solid reputations until they were forced to get involved because it was part of their jobs. They were therefore made to suffer the consequences of their actions for a problem that was not of their own making. They had to save the Queen.

The ZTE-NBN scandal though is reflective of how things have been going on but although in a big way. We have a government that is governed not by rules, not by what is right and what is wrong, but by influence and partisan considerations. The controversies that have beset the administration both at the local and national level speak of a pattern of how power and influence are used to protect personal interests. The controversy that hounded the PNP because of its inability to immediately effect the relief of OIC-Regional Director PS/Supt. Ballingi Tira here in the Bicol Region manifested how influential individuals can hold hostage public good because of their ties with the powers that be. Pundits say that PS/Supt Tira’s stay was an indication of how influential Cong. Villafuerte is, the “impeachment lawyer” of PGMA, with the present dispensation. I am almost quite certain that had then Chief PNP Oscar Calderon had his way, RD Tira would not have stayed a minute longer after he defied the orders of his superiors. Beyond former Chief PNP Calderon, the authority of the PNP as an institution was impaired through no fault of its own. And to think that they also just only wanted to do their jobs. The rule of law was sacrificed for those who saved the Queen.

Sadly, beyond those who hold the reigns of power now are the institutions of government whose importance are beyond 2010. The people’s confidence on these institutions have been eroded. It will take some doing before they can be restored. Will electing a new king do it?

Panlilio’s Woes

November 18, 2007

While I was watching Governor Ed Panlilio narrating the details as to how he got the P 500,000 “gift” after a Malacanang meeting, over ANC, our 13 year old daughter, Tricia, asked me what the issue was all about. (She has been lately quite interested with current events — a collateral value of being part of the school debating team.) I shared with her my thoughts on the matter and explained how the Governor’s woes came to be. Tricia, in all her innocence, said “ano ba yan!”.

“Ano ba yan!” I guess this aptly expresses the exasperation that most Filipinos feel upon learning of the saga of Governor Panlilio, the priest turned governor of the province of Pampanga. A good man, with the best of intentions, who just wants to be true to himself (difficult as it may be in the new arena he is in), he is now the subject of partisan fire simply because he told the truth. The “herd mentality” is again at play. While I understand why his fellow governors cannot stand up for him even if they know the truth, I can not imagine the League of Provinces (the association of governors) coming out with a one page newspaper ad that discredits Governor Panlilio. (They could not even get their act together. One governor was asking for his share of the gravy, ridiculing the crap that the money came from their own league. This is no different from one Congressman claiming that money came from party funds, while other party members disclaim knowledge of it. ) Money changed hands. At least two governors admitted they received it. An ABS-CBN footage showed elected officials holding bags, like that one of Governor Ed, before boarding their cars. If there is really nothing wrong with it, people who have been responsible for the dole-outs should just explain and be forthright with the facts. Like in the past, the problem now are the attempts to cover it up. In the process of doing so, Governor Ed is now being portrayed as the goat. How sad it is when the leaders we look up to can not be relied upon to speak and uphold the truth because of partisan allegiances. The “gift” has brought out the best and the worst in many of them.

I doubt if the truth can be publicly ferreted out at this time. Those who can attest to it would rather not speak out. Those who want to muddle it are all over the airlanes and the pages of the newspaper. I am sure our people are more perceptive than they are presumed to be. They know who to believe. They know who is taking them for a ride. Unfortunately, they would rather watch from the sidelines and bottle up their indignation.

Something is wrong when we freely allow good men to be persecuted. (Governor Panlilio is now a respondent in a case filed a group of lawyers for admitting he received the “gift”.) But it is worse when people are aghast but are silent. It is too early to say whether Governor Panlilio will succeed in his quixotic journey — delivering the outcomes to fulfill his mandate as local chief executive and defining a new way of conducting oneself while in office. But in a lot of ways, how he will fare depends on how we, who believe in him, can muster the courage to stand up for him. As they say, for evil to triumph it only takes good men to do nothing. We may be as helpless and as powerless as the ordinary man in the street. But all the more, this is the reason why we should stand up for him. He is the only one standing up for us!