Sending a clear message to the state auditors of the Commission on Audit (COA), President Aquino delivered a speech at their 112th anniversary, emboldening them “to safeguard the public coffers without fear that they would be stopped.”
“Being the eyes of the bureaucracy, you know that no one is blindfolding you in tracking down anomalies. No one is stopping you to speak up against things that are not right, and no one is tying you so you can fulfill your mandate to be honest and loyal guardians of the people’s money,” he said.
He made special mention of two top women from the COA—Chairman Grace Pulido Tan and Commissioner Heidi Mendoza—whom he personally handpicked and bestowed his full trust to lead the COA and help him in his crusade against corruption.
He called on other state auditors to decline bribes from agencies whose records are under investigation. He exhorted them, instead, to join him in his quest to lead the nation towards the right path.
“This is true service. This is the right path. This is the realization of our goal for change, and you auditors are in the frontline of this fight,” he said.
The president resonated these words, perhaps, to get over his disbelief on the recent ruling made by the Sandiganbayan on the plea bargain agreement made between ex-AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia and the special prosecutors of the Office of the Ombudsman over his P303-million plunder case.
The anti-graft court has approved the deal because of Garcia compliance with its conditions—pleading guilty to lesser offenses and coughing up P135-million of his and his family assets for the state.
Pres. Aquino described the Sandiganbayan as seemingly being in “a vacuum” when they came up with the decision.
With the incredulous ruling grinding his gears, Pres. Aquino is resorting to extreme measures and exercising his executive right to round up, embolden and empower his anti-corruption army—an act of semper fidelis, to fulfill what he has promised since the beginning of his presidential campaign, up to the final day of his presidency.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend May 14-17, 2011 Sec A pg. 12)
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