As the political calendar creeps nearer to the 2004 presidential elections, we can almost see scandals exploding in media involving Mr. Arroyo and his boys deployed in juicy posts in government.
As GMA still has a teflon-like protective veneer, expect the opposition to try getting her through her vulnerable husband.
In the short term, we see as an early indicator of this lurking problem the rumbling turf war between Mike’s Minions and personalities who consider themselves Gloria’s Gofers. Trust the opposition to exploit this rivalry.
Our observation is most likely to be ignored, but we’re making it nonetheless for the record, and for future reference.
As precaution, GMA should have a strict rule that anybody recommended by Mike should be subjected to stringent screening, if not outright rejection, and any deal or contract being pushed by him, or his lawyers, disapproved on sight.
This is to prevent any hint of hanky-panky, baseless or otherwise, tainting her administration. GMA can very well handle things anyway without the need for the husband poking his finger into state affairs.
Like her father President Diosdado Macapagal, she should make honesty and simple living the hallmarks of her administration and official life. This she cannot do if some characters close to her or her husband have something else in mind.
If it is not Mike himself who would make a misstep, it could be some of his runners who appear to be in a hurry to raise funds ostensibly for her 2004 campaign. If you ask us, that 2004 campaign kitty line could just be a cover for big-time graft.
It’s not fair to GMA, and her loyalists should be concerned, but there is talk already that the fund-raising for 2004 has started.
Even from sheer delicadeza, Abad should have resigned on the spot after President Arroyo herself flew to Mabini, Batangas, and found 1.2 million sacks of imported rice almost rotting in a private warehouse.
The NFA has sold the imported rice, worth P1.5 billion, to bidders. But Abad is reportedly still paying for the warehousing while the favored bidders are waiting for the best time to withdraw it and unload the cereal at maximum profit.
The theory in the coffee shops is that Abad may have thought he is untouchable since he is with the powerful Perea clique of Mike Arroyo. Perea refers to that street in Greenbelt in Makati where Mike’s reported favorite law firm holds court.
The scuttlebutt in business and elsewhere is that any big shot who wants ironclad protection and favored treatment from the Arroyo dispensation must retain The Firm.
How many minions have been deployed to control money-making agencies? Let’s reserve the topic for some other time.
Her daydreaming about becoming the subject of a bioflick is destroying her image as a serious witness against the many crimes she had attributed to Sen. Panfilo Lacson and his supporting cast. Let her focus first on Lacson, nothing else.
A movie on one’s life is a legitimate dream of anybody in the limelight, but in her particular situation she should keep quiet about it lest it ruins the bigger movie on the fight against the narcotrade.
If Lacson accepted the three-point challenge of AFP intelligence chief Col. Victor Corpus, there would have been nothing else for the senators to pretend to investigate since the two main protagonists – Corpuz and Lacson – would have raised the discussion to a higher level.
It would have become mainly a police matter. (Did we say "higher level"?)
If he were innocent of the charges, Lacson could have found it easy doing those three things contained in the challenge hurled by Corpus. He could have shot back at Corpus: Call!
But the macho general failed miserably to rise to the occasion. His not responding positively to the challenge was widely taken as a hint that he had something to hide. That’s bad.
The numbered account idea, he says, is patterned after that of Switzerland with some modifications and safeguards. He adds that there is nothing wrong with numbered accounts as long as the true identity of the beneficial owner is known to the top officers of the bank.
He says that numbered accounts are preferred by foreign and local investors looking for security.
In the anti-money laundering bill being discussed in Congress, there was a provisions calling for bankers found guilty of money laundering being sent to prison for up to 20 years. Some jittery lawmakers cut it down to 10 years!
The final test, we think, is how the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force organized by industrialized countries will rate the law that our Congress will pass eventually. If the new law is toothless, expect the FATP to go ahead with its threatened sanctions against the Philippines.
To talk back to us, shoot an e-mail to ManilaMail@pacific.net.ph.