Angara will deodorize Estrada - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Talk of Mission Impossible. But that's precisely what Agriculture Secretary Ed Angara is supposed to do if he takes over the position of Executive Secretary. When I had the chance to talk to Ed before Christmas, he denied he was craving for the position that was at that time, still to be vacated by Ronnie Zamora. He would rather stay in Agriculture because his mission is not yet done, Angara said.

And I think Angara was sincere when he said he wanted to stay in Agriculture. He was proud of the small successes he has scored, thus far, and under circumstances that were less than hospitable.

Erap isn't exactly fond of Angara, merely tolerating him perhaps for party unity's sake. That made it easy for Ronnie Zamora to snipe at him from Day 1 and even managed to take away key offices, like the NFA, away from the control of the agriculture secretary. It would really be sweet if the President all but begged him to now take over Ronnie's job. That sounds like Angara's just daydreaming.

But I understand, the dream's for real. Angara is poised to take over the Malacañang job. Erap needs him to deodorize the presidency in a post-impeachment scenario. They expect an acquittal, of course, and it would take special skills to navigate the dangerous waters of a post-acquittal environment.

The only other heavy hitter who could be it is Ernie Maceda. Maceda would have the Machiavellian skills to run the Executive department but not the credibility nor the charms that would make the job possible. Angara is known for his quiet but effective backroom skills. He is also amiable enough so that it takes a real effort to dislike him. In other words, he has all the skills of a Maceda but little of Maceda's baggage.

It helps that Angara is still the head of a sizable political party allied with the President's coalition group. I guess Angara knows he is needed badly which is why I am told, he imposed a heavy condition for agreeing to take the Malacañang position. Angara will effectively be the de-facto President, a Prime Minister so to speak. Maybe Erap is ready to allow more competent allies to run the country if he can only save what is left of his face.

I have strong doubts the arrangement will work. For one thing, Angara may be indulging in wishful thinking if he believes, as he seems to believe, that Erap will willingly surrender his powers to him. It is also not possible to have a "new" Erap that Angara can successfully peddle, as Angara thinks.

The President himself keeps on saying, what you see is what you get. Translated, the guy is hopeless. It won't take long before Angara will be at loggerheads with Erap because of characters like Jaime Dichaves and the rest of Erap's cronies. With the exception of Mark Jimenez, these are mostly of the monosyllabic variety, the the types who are detested even in Binondo, a disgrace to those of us with Chinese blood in our veins.

I think Angara should open his eyes to what happened to the economic czars who were supposed to have been given by the President a free hand to run the business side of things. Paeng Buenaventura, Titoy Pardo, Mar Roxas, etc., all respectable and decent people, acted like deodorizers for the "new" Erap and ended up smelling like their boss.

But then again, someone has to do the dirty job. It seems, from the way Tessie Aquino Oreta, John O, Johnny Ponce Enrile and Tito Sotto are asking their questions, it will take a miracle to get a conviction from the Senate Impeachment Court. If we have to be stuck with Erap for more than three years, we might just as well have an Angara as de-facto President.

I'd rather have Ed Angara there than someone wearing a uniform, if you know what I mean.

Same hole

Tomorrow, the Thais will go to the polls to elect members of their Parliament in a general election called to address the crisis of confidence plaguing their political leadership. The popularity of a business tycoon, Thaksin Shinawatra, is a measure of the Thai people's disenchantment with professional politicians.

Unfortunately, even before he can win the election with enough parliament seats to become Prime Minister, Shinawatra is in trouble with Thailand's anti-corruption body. It seems, he filed misleading statements of his assets and liabilities. The Thais apparently take that rule a lot more seriously than we do here. Right, Mr. Jose Velarde?

Whoever wins tomorrow's election will have headaches aplenty. In November 2000, the budget deficit is in the range of 26 billion baht. For the first two months of fiscal 2001, starting Oct. 1, the deficit totalled 44.8 billion baht. They have the same problem as we do: Their expenditures are outstripping revenues through tax collections and other government income.

The business sector is worried that they are unlikely to get a quick fix. The Bangkok Post reports that "topping the list of obstacles is political uncertainty that is expected to persist throughout the first quarter of the new year while the new coalition government takes shape."

An advertising industry executive told Bangkok Post that "right now, political uncertainty is the main concern for us, but the industry outlook should be clear in April with the new government." He observed that political change would have a big impact on them this year. He, therefore, urged the country to find a premier with vision and the confidence of international investors who were waiting for the political landscape to become clear.

He was talking of Thailand but we could have said the same things for the Philippines. Actually, I look at Thailand with envy. In less than a week, they should be able to clear up their political problems somehow, while we are still mired with our hopeless impeachment process. Soon, the Thais will be on their way to economic recovery, with infrastructure in place. They are even talking of a one billion baht fund for a three-year promotional campaign to reassure foreign investors about the domestic economic and political situations.

Of course, in our case, even if we had the money for such a campaign, we can't have one simply because it would be a waste of money. Any campaign to reassure foreign investors now would be useless and empty unless we are able to reassure ourselves first that all will be fine. That means confidence in our political leadership. That's precisely what Erap no longer enjoys even if his allies in the Senate manage to clear him, despite the damning evidence, of the impeachment charges.

Estrada's dream

Reports filtering from Malacañang indicate that Erap has been having difficulty sleeping because of the impeachment hearings. One night, Erap had a dream that he was freed from all these earthly worries. There he was in front of the pearly gates and he approached St. Peter for permission to enter Heaven.

"Oh," St. Peter said, "we have a rule here that you first have to spell the word of the day."

"Okay," Erap says, "what's the word."

"Impeachment," St. Peter says.

Erap thinks for a moment then asks St. Peter, "Puede ba, resign na lang? Mas madali yan."

(Boo Chanco's e-mail address is [email protected])