When ‘legacy’ is not a legacy

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

Lately, there have been talks of the “legacy” of the Aquino family: Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Corazon “Cory” Aquino, and their son Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III. 

People loved Ninoy for saying, “The Filipino is worth dying for.”  As it turned out, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy: he was assassinated as he stepped down from the airplane that brought him back home in August 1983.  For his act of courage, Ninoy left a lasting legacy as a hero and a martyr.

                

When his wife Cory came home to bury him, she rallied the people to rise against the Marcos dictatorship.  In February 1986, the Marcos regime was toppled and Cory formed a revolutionary government.  The following year, she spearheaded the rewriting of the constitution, which became known as the “Cory Constitution,” “People Power Constitution” or more commonly as the “1987 Constitution.”  That was her lasting legacy and the people adored her as the “Icon of Democracy.” 

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In 2010, twenty-four years after the People Power Revolution, Ninoy and Cory’s only son, P-Noy, was elected President of the Philippines.  Now, halfway through his six-year term, P-Noy kicked off the second half of his presidency with a State of the Nation Address (SONA) that lasted one hour and 44 minutes.  

                

In his lengthy monologue, P-Noy warned corrupt officials that his patience has run out.  “You were given three years to demonstrate your readiness to change. Now, I shall pursue all of you and hold you accountable. No hard feelings,” he said.  

                

He singled out the Bureau of Customs, saying: “Here we have the Bureau of Customs, whose personnel are trying to outdo each other’s incompetence. Instead of collecting the proper taxes and preventing contraband from entering the country, they are heedlessly permitting the smuggling of goods, and even drugs, arms, and other items of a similar nature into our territory.”  Then he added, “If you cannot do your job, you do not deserve to remain in office.”

                

Customs Commissioner RuffyBiazon, who wasn’t at the SONA event, got the “message” and he sent a text message to P-Noy and offered to resign.  It would have been an easy way out for both of them, but lo and behold! P-Noy rejected his offer.  “Ruffy we both know the difficulties in the agency you are trying to reform. My confidence in you remains the same,” P-Noy said.  So, as it turned out, his tirade against corruption was nothing more than antics -- or “SONAtics” – that was intended to project a façade as an anti-corruption crusader while keeping his non-performing friends in their jobs.

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But P-Noy needs to know that words alone cannot be bequeathed.  Ninoy bequeathed his life for the Filipino people to emulate while Cory bequeathed the “People Power” Constitution to protect the people’s freedom.  However, Ninoy and Cory’s legacies fell short of achieving their ultimate goal, which was to free the people from the bondage of poverty. 

               

Twenty-seven years after the People Power Revolution, we should have seen improvement in people’s lives.  But what we’re seeing today are people trapped in a quagmire of abject poverty. With the widening gap between the rich and the poor, there is a tendency for people desperately wishing for the “good old days.” Although this perception is nothing more than an illusion, the plight of the people is real.  And when the people are down on their luck, they’d do whatever it takes to effect a change… for better or for worse.  

The irony of it is while “Change” was what brought P-Noy to power; the lack thereof during his tenure could bring about a reversal after the 2016 presidential elections.  And the danger is that it could bring the country back to the days of impunity.  And when that happens, it will shatter the legacies of Ninoy and Cory.  

                

People are now talking of P-Noy’s legacy when he steps down in 2016.  The question is: What is his legacy?  Well, they cited that P-Noy forced Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to resign, impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, and jailed Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  But these don't make a legacy.  Reforms – that is, real reforms – do.   

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In my article, “Is P-Noy a reformist or a conformist” (July 2, 2013), I wrote: “In essence, if P-Noy changed the system to prevent corruption in government, then he would have accomplished 80% of his reforms. Then, and only then, can he proceed to change the other 20%; that is, the corrupt officials who are running the system for their personal aggrandizement.

“By now, you’re probably wondering what is the “system” I was talking about? The system is the law of the land. At a minimum, P-Noy must create two new laws, the anti-dynasty law and the Freedom of Information (FOI) law. He must also revise or repeal the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.”

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The 1987 Constitution mandates the legislation of the Anti-Dynasty law as stated in Article II Section 26, to wit: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.” However, the big hang-up is that Congress has failed to – or wouldn’t – pass the Anti-Dynasty law. Surmise it to say that with political dynasties entrenched in just about all the provinces, their influence transcends into the law-making Congress.  Do you expect the dynasts in Congress to slash their own throats?

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Article III Section 7 states: “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.”

  

P-Noy should realize that his anti-corruption crusade is not going to succeed without dismantling the patronage system that is protecting the corrupt.   The passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) law is imperative to ending corruption in government. P-Noy promised to prioritize the FOI bill during the 2010 campaign; however, to this day he has yet to include it in his legislative agenda. Makes one wonder, why?

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During the Corona impeachment trial, P-Noy promised that he would include in his legislative priority agenda the revision of the Foreign Currency Deposit Act (FCDA) to modify its “absolute confidentiality” clause to allow government agencies to look into the FCDA accounts of those under investigation. P-Noy has yet to do this.

                

If P-Noy wants to fight corruption, he needs more than just slogans to do it. He should – nay, must — have the ability to track where the dirty or ill-gotten money goes. And to do that, he needs tools like FOI, FCDA, Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to catch the culprits. And only then can he claim that he is really serious about fighting corruption.

If P-Noy could accomplish these reforms, then he’d leave a lasting legacy and be remembered by Filipinos for ages to come.  But if he fails to do so, then that’s when “legacy” is not a legacy. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)