No farewell, no PNP revamp in SONA

President Arroyo’s policy speech yesterday did not contain a farewell to the public, indicating that she may yet change her mind and run in next year’s presidential elections, Lakas spokesman Heherson Alvarez said yesterday.

In her State-of-the-Nation Address, the President omitted a significant paragraph in the draft earlier distributed to journalists, which said that she was ordering a complete revamp of the Philippine National Police (PNP) by declaring all positions vacant.

Reporters covering the SONA could only scratch their heads as they wondered why the President had the sudden change of heart about the fate of beleaguered Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

Alvarez, spokesman for the coalition led by the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat (Lakas-CMD) party, said statements in the President’s policy speech to Congress pointed beyond the end of her term next year.

Mrs. Arroyo, who was swept to power in a military-backed popular uprising in January 2001, has said she would not contest the 2004 polls.

"She is accepting the challenge of leadership to eradicate poverty and haul our country out from our big problems," Alvarez said after the President’s annual State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).

"If you read (her speech), her explanation is very clear. She talked about her first year, second year and the coming years.

"This is a woman with a vision… she’s a statesman, I think, in the making. And I think one who has a vision must win the confidence of the people, and when that happens there is no doubt that she will continue to sell," he said.

Alvarez also referred to a dramatic moment during the President’s speech when she pointed to her baby granddaughter, Mikaela Gloria, in the gallery and said she would like to do something to improve the child’s future and that of her generation.

If Mrs. Arroyo turned away from the 2004 polls, she "cannot do anything for" her grandchildren, Alvarez said.

Philippine presidents are limited by the Constitution to single six-year terms, but Mrs. Arroyo is not covered by this provision because she is serving the remainder of the term of Joseph Estrada who was deposed in 2001.

The President’s SONA, on the other hand, actually has two versions — the draft, unedited one and the edited version actually delivered by Mrs. Arroyo.

A few minutes before she gave her speech, Palace aides distributed copies of the draft to journalists. The edited version was passed around while Mrs. Arroyo was reporting on the present state of the nation and her accomplishments during the past year.

A Palace undersecretary pointed to one long paragraph on page 3 of the unedited version, telling reporters that it was the most significant in the entire speech and was newspaper headline material.

"I am establishing a PNP reform commission to report back to me with a recommendation for a complete overhaul of the national police. The overhaul will cover the big picture as well as the devil in the details, like kotong (mulcting) cops. In the meantime, all the PNP positions are hereby considered vacant. Those occupying the positions are deemed to be serving in acting capacity. We will subject all police officers to a lifestyle check. All those who fail the lifestyle check will go the way of the recent BIR and Customs indictees," the paragraph read.

This signigicant paragraph, which indeed would have made the headlines today, disappeared in the delivered version. Except for this missing part, there were no significant differences between the draft and delivered versions.

Another Palace undersecretary later pleaded with reporters not to make a story out of Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to omit the part that would have declared all PNP positions vacant.

When asked why the decision, the undersecretary just shrugged his shoulders. Reporters were themselves perplexed why they were given copies of the two versions.

The President, did however announce in the delivered version that she was forming a PNP reform commission to "cure the organization not only of failures of the scale of the Al-Ghozi escape, but also the daily devils that are the kotong cops." — AFP, Jess Diaz