Innuendos concerning his association with alleged Queen of Pork Barrel Scams, Janet Lim-Napoles, his insistence on retaining his humongous presidential pork barrel-in-disguise, and recent allegations of bribery to ensure the impeachment by the Senate of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, have raised doubts about the avowed incorruptibility of Benigo S. Aquino III.
His vaunted Daang Matuwid (Straight Path) is being perceived by an increasing number of people, including erstwhile supporters, as Liko-Likong Landas (Crooked-Crooked Road).
Meanwhile, the rats (rather, the swine) who have been implicated in the plunder of the national treasury are intent on sinking the Ship of State, if they themselves can’t keep from drowning. And some people are actually proposing to resolve the current crisis through more drastic means.
The Global Filipino Nation, a group led by otherwise intelligent individuals based in the Philippines and overseas, has sent out the draft of an official statement, excerpts of which state:
“Citizens demand that new elections be called in 180 days. The country needs a new mandate for the President, Vice President, Senators and Representatives. A Loss of Confidence Vote triggers new elections in parliamentary systems. The Presidential System has miserably failed the country. We call on Congress to pass a Law calling for new elections.”
It is obvious that the folks who drafted this piece didn’t bother to subject it to a reality check. They actually expect leeches to voluntarily let go.
But certain adventurous quarters in the military may, in fact, want to do the ejecting. It’s not difficult to guess who would have reason to encourage and even fund it.
On the other hand, there are the newly-aroused activists and would-be reformers who are making all kinds of demands in social media and in public demonstrations, from lynching Napoles, to accelerating the conviction of the congressional scalawags (they think one year is too long), to impeaching Aquino.
I am convinced that most of those making these demands want positive change in a government that they consider neck-deep in moral and ethical excrement. They think the country badly needs a White Knight. But nobody is saying who that might be.
To these well-meaning folks, I respectfully suggest that we all pause for sober reflection, put a finger on what we really want to happen, separate the chaff of manipulative spin from the grain of genuine calls for reforms, decide on what is doable, and determine who is in the best position to do it.
For starters, perhaps we can agree on certain basic premises:
First premise: If Ben Luy and company had “blown their whistles” during the incumbency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the case would have been subjected to an impotent Senate investigation, at best. Additionally, an obstacle course of TROs would have been put up by a compliant Supreme Court, along with the invocation of “executive privilege” by the Malacañang occupant, a case of amnesia among the whistle-blowers, and the disappearance of vital witnesses.
In contrast, the Aquino government has actually filed plunder charges with the Ombudsman against Napoles, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, five former congressmen and 30 others. The Commission on Audit has been digging up more instances of plunder, aside from P10-billion pesos pork barrel scam. And the BIR is threatening to go after officials who have cheated on their SALN. For sure, there is currently a push-and-pull in the Senate over the appearance of Napoles before the Blue Ribbon Committee, but executive privilege has not been invoked.
Second premise: Aquino may have been perceived as giving “special treatment” to Napoles, and the actuations of some of his cabinet members may have raised some suspicious eyebrows, but he has allowed the DoJ, the COA, the BIR and the NBI to continue exhuming skeletons.
While the initial indictees are said to be from the political opposition, the inquisitors have made it known that they plan to file charges against many others, regardless of political affiliation.
Third premise: The PNP invariably roughed up anti-Arroyo demonstrators and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales never ran out of threats of legal reprisal against them. In contrast, the worst that critics against Aquino and his officials have gotten in return have been inelegant insults.
Fourth premise: Granting that questionable incentives were given as rewards for impeaching Corona, the fact is that Corona was being heaped with as much bile during his trial as that hurled at Napoles, Tanda, Sexy, Pogi and the other alleged swine these past months. Would the Senator-Judges have risked the ire of the populace by letting Corona walk?
Fourth premise: It is unlikely that a “Million People March,” even assuming it can actually generate millions, can succeed in deposing Aquino without the support of the military. In the first place, would we welcome jumping from the frying pan into the fire?
In sum, in spite of his flaws, this president has been slowly, delivering on his promise to bring official thieves to justice, albeit grudgingly and, at times, resorting to questionable methods.
But what can even the most ardent reformer do when he’s operating in a snake pit, swimming with sharks and dealing with swine? Learn to adapt, that’s what. To paraphrase Ninoy Aquino’s favorite ballad from Man of La Mancha, one sometimes as “to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.”
The fact is that Aquino has conceded that the congressional pork should go, even while he obviously thinks he can get away with his own pork-in-disguise. He probably thinks we are incapable of sustaining our outrage. We just need to continue reading him the Riot Act.
This brings to mind a lesson in pragmatism that I learned from my late ad agency boss, Tony de Joya. With a sigh of frustration and of resignation, he would tell me: “If we can’t get first class, let’s settle for good second class. Then improve on it.”
Applied to Aquino, he may be turning out to be less heroic and unblemished as his campaign made him appear – in other words, not first class – but he’s turning out better than Erap Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In other words, good second class.
And speaking of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, we may want to learn something from the advice she gave us, overseas Pinoys, when we asked her to persuade Congress to take out what we felt were objectionable provisions in the Dual Citizenship and Overseas Absentee Voting bills.
She said, “I suggest you accept these imperfect bills for now. You can always work to amend them after they have become law. On the other hand, if you don’t accept them now, you may have to wait a long time for another opportunity like this.”
It’s called the Half-a-Loaf Principle. Pretty much like making do with good second class and then improving on it.
Let’s face it. Benigno S. Aquino III is far from perfect, but he is the most determined reformist that we’ve had in a long time. Instead of throwing out this baby along with the bath water, maybe we should just help him clean up his act.
***