A tale of three midnight appointees

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

As she walks down the twilight zone at the end her presidency, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made more than 250 political appointments and 302 military promotions just before the ban on midnight appointments took effect last March 10, 2010. However, there is a great deal of apprehension that these “twilight” appointments were actually made past midnight of March 10 but back-dated before the constitutional ban took effect.

In reaction to the tsunami of “midnight” appointments, President-apparent Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said that he will review all of them. “I intend to exercise that prerogative under Article VII Section 14 of the Constitution where we have up to 90 days to void all of those illegal appointments,” he said. These would include 302 military promotions that were bypassed by the Commission on Appointments(CA), to wit: one four-star general, three lieutenant generals, 10 major generals, one rear admiral, 35brigadier generals, five commodores, and the rest are colonels and captains.
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The most controversial “midnight” appointment was that of Lt. General Delfin Bangit who was appointed Armed Forces Chief of Staff on March 9. Although Malacanang claimed that Bangit’s appointment was made prior to the midnight ban, the position was not vacated by the retiring Chief of Staff, Gen. Victor Ibrado, until March 10, the first day of the ban. In that case, Bangit’s appointment did not take effect until March 10; thus, making it illegal.

What made Bangit’s appointment more complicated was that his confirmation was bypassed by the CA when it adjourned last June 7; thus, his promotion to four-star general did not get the requisite confirmation. Bangit claimed that although his promotion to four-star general was not confirmed by the CA, his appointment as Chief of Staff was not affected by the bypass.

But the law is crystal clear: the Chief of Staff position can only be taken by a four-star general confirmed by the CA. Therefore, if the CA did not confirm Bangit’s promotion to four-star general, then he couldn’t be appointed Chief of Staff. In other words, the position of Chief of Staff and the rank of four-star general go hand in hand and inseparable.

In my opinion, Bangit’s appointment should be withdrawn or treated as “temporary appointment” in conformance with Section 15, Article VII of the constitution, which states: “two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to Executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”

Responding to calls for his resignation, Bangit adamantly refused to quit saying that resignation is a cowardly act. He said, however, that he would relinquish his position if Noynoy appointed another person after assuming the presidency. Noynoy, in a gesture of statesmanship, said that Bangit can stay until June 30. If Bangit has any sense of delicadeza (propriety), he should submit his courtesy resignation to the incoming president and commander-in- chief.
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Another high-profile “midnight” appointee is Efraim Genuino, the Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). Gloria claimed that she signed his appointment for another one-year term -- for the ninth time and ninth year -- last March 9. However, the appointment was wrapped in secrecy until after the elections when it was exposed by the media; thus, forcing Gloria to make a public announcement.

What makes many people leery about the appointment of Genuino is that Pagcor is the third largest revenue generator after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs. But what makes Pagcor different from BIR and Customs is that its revenue is derived from gaming. Money changes hands at the gaming tables -- all cash, no receipts.

Government auditors would have to rely solely on what the Pagcor “money counters” would disclose. And who can tell if money was skimmed off the top of the humongous amounts of money stacked up in the casinos’ counting rooms? I am not saying that it is being done; I don’t have any evidence to prove it. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s being done. Wasn’t that how it was supposedly done in Las Vegas and other gambling meccas during the heydays of the Mob?

Columnist Lito Banayo, in his recent column, “Midnight,” wrote about Genuino and four other Pagcor board directors appointed by Gloria: “

Why then did she have to re-appoint these characters, likely not in midnight fashion but in ante-dated manner (why announce it only now, if the appointments were made on March 9)? Was it pambabastos? Was it to cover up certain tracks? Was it to give her coven in Pagcor time to urgently clean up the books? Was it to forge some more midnight deals? Or all of the above?” Indeed, these are questions that need to be addressed… soon!
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When Gloria appointed her loyal and long-time manicurist, Anita Carbon, a lot of people thought of the insane Roman emperor Caligula who appointed his horse as a Roman consul. Not that Carbon was ridiculed to the level of a horse but for the fact that she was appointed to a two-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Pag-ibig housing fund.

My take, however, is that Gloria appointed Cabron to send a subtle message to her critics that she can appoint anyone she wanted to and to hell with public opinion. It was a display of raw power, daring anyone to stop her. She appointed Carbon not because she cared about her future; she saw in her the perfect pawn to use in her endgame.

Carbon could have played her game all along and take all the indignities and insults thrown at her. Why not? At a salary of P130,000 per month -- twice the salary of Gloria -- Carbon could accumulate more than P3 million in earnings over two years. That would guarantee her a nice and comfortable lifestyle when she retires.
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However, Carbon valued her honor more than all the money that would have come her way from that position. So when it was time to attend her first board meeting, she didn’t show up and notified Malacanang that she’s not taking the job. Indeed, it must have been delicadeza and self-respect that made her forego the “sweetheart deal” of her life.

Manicurist Anita Carbon proved to the whole world that there is more to life than monetary gain and power. How I wish that Gen. Delfin Bangit and Pagcor Chairman Efraim Genuino would learn a lesson from Anita and realize that they too can stand tall in the twilight of their careers. (PerryDiaz@gmail. com)