Scourge of our times

PERRYSCOPE
By Perry Diaz

Lately, the people have been asking, “What’s going on with our country?”   First, the Ballsy Aquino-Cruz alleged extortion followed by the Bureau of Customs smuggling scandal.  Then the pork barrel scandal erupted.  Then, on September 9, 2013, a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) under Nur Misuari attacked Zamboanga City and took more than 300 hostages.  That’s too much for P-Noy to take. 

Four days later, P-Noy took his cue from the saying, “If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”  He then flew to Zamboanga, far from the madding crowd that has been pestering him for not giving up his presidential pork barrel.  

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Holed up in an undisclosed “command post,” he stayed out of public view and avoided the media.  On September 21, after eight days of isolation, he emerged from his hideout and held a press conference at the Zamboanga Airport.  He told the media that he had to go to Zamboanga because as the commander-in-chief, command responsibility rests in him. He said that he plans to stay there until the crisis was over.   But, criticized for micro-managing the military operation, he flew 

back to Manila the following day. 

t’s interesting to note that during P-Noy’s extended stay in Zamboanga, reporters asked Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda during a press briefing in Malacañang why P-Noy had not made any statement on other national issues, Lacierda said that the President had no access to Manila newspapers. “You know, the problem in Zamboanga is that no planes are flying there. They’re not getting news there. No newspapers are being flown there,” he told the reporters.  Whoa! 

Since when did the President not able to access the news when he was away?  He has access to the Internet, has he not?  And can’t Lacierda or his deputy Abigail Valte or the two other Cabinet-level “communications” secretaries – Ricky Carandang and Sonny Coloma -- update P-Noy with what’s happening in Manila?  

They’re just a phone call away, aren’t they?  And, oh! how about the online news?  They’re accessible at the tip of P-Noy’s fingers, aren’t they?  And if there is no electricity in the city, P-Noy should be able to get a generator.  Simply put, there is no excuse for failure to communicate. 

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Foremost among the national issues is P-Noy’s stand on the filing of plunder and malversation charges against 38 individuals, which include Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.  And then there are the pressing issues of the postponement of the SangguniangKabataan (SK) elections and the prioritizing of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill as “urgent.”  With these issues lingering in limbo, it makes one feel that the whole country is at a standstill. 

But granted that Lacierda was telling the truth that nobody outside Zamboanga City could reach P-Noy; then it would be the same the other way around: P-Noy wouldn’t be able to reach anybody in Manila, particularly his boys in Malacañang.  

P-Noy’s return to Manila provided a sigh of relief to his boys in Malacañang.  

Meanwhile, it was reported that six of the 35 individuals charged with plunder on the Bureau of Immigration’s “lookout list” have left the country!  And, listen to this: Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima said that the government has practically “no

recourse” against the six. 

With more and more lawmakers being investigated for plunder and malversation, the list could grow.  And what would happen then?  Could it be that the country is heading towards an anarchic order?  Heaven forbid!  Or, is another “people power” revolution in the offing?  Indeed, the specter of another “people power” revolution sends shivers down the spine of every lawmaker… and the President, too. 

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This brings to mind P-Noy’s controversial P1.3-trillion presidential pork barrel. Yes, we’re talking trillions here!  That’s 1,300 billion!  Compare that to the P25 billion allocated to all the lawmakers in 2013, that’s like comparing a mouse to an elephant!  And what is really sad is that P-Noy may have planted, wittingly or unwittingly, the seeds of corruption by substantially increasing the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations or pork barrel of the lawmakers beginning in 2011.  

In my article, “P-Noy chops pork, keeps the bacon” (August 26, 2013), I wrote: “P-Noy should stop blaming Gloria for all his problems. While it may be true that the pork barrel scam ran by Janet Lim-Napoles started during Gloria’s time, it did not end when P-Noy ascended to the presidency. In fact, the COA report shows that the pork barrel scam increased in volume and more lawmakers – 12 senators and 180 congressmen – were involved in raiding the PDAF funds and splitting the funds 70-30 with the lawmakers getting the lion’s share.

“But blaming Gloria is not going to work this time around. Department of Budget and Management (DBM) records show that in 2010, Gloria’s last budget year, PDAF was P6.9 billion. The following year, with P-Noy having full control of the budget, he could have pared down the PDAF allocations. But instead, PDAF allocations took a quantum leap. In 2011, PDAF more than tripled from 2010’s P6.9 billion to P22.3 billion! In 2012, it was increased to P24.89 billion. It was for the same amount in 2013. But in 2014, PDAF will increase to a record P27 billion!”

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But due to the heat created by the pork barrel scandal, lawmakers from both chambers of Congress decided to forego their PDAF allocations in favor of earmarking these allocations directly to government departments needing them.  In other words, they couldn’t dip their dirty hands into the cookie jar anymore.  It remains to be seen, though, if this “reform” would work.  The greedy always find ways to beat the system.

But how about P-Noy’s P1.3-trillion pork?  That’s a lot of moolah under his absolute control.  In essence, he can move or redirect all or part of these lump sum allocations to projects of his choice and Congress couldn’t do anything about it.  In other words, Congress no longer has the “power of the purse.”  P-Noy usurped it. 

It comes as no surprise then that the national uproar over the humongous presidential pork barrel is growing fast and could reach critical mass any time soon. But so far, P-Noy is resisting calls for him to let go of his pork.  But how long can he hold on?

Ultimately, P-Noy has to deal with the scourge of our times: war in Mindanao and plunder in the government.  That’s the price of leadership.  It’s called command responsibility. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)