Slash-and-burn

You know you have a credibility problem when you rejoice about the results of a survey one day, only to find yourself being on the defensive for the next several days about the group that commissioned the poll.

Malacañang’s best defense about the latest survey on President Arroyo’s performance rating is the track record of Social Weather Stations, a highly respected pollster. As for the head of the group that commissioned the survey, a certain Michael Say, would he happen to be the same Michael Say known in the Tsinoy community as a friend of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo?

Whoever commissioned the SWS survey, the opposition is naturally dismayed by the results. This must be the reason for the rumor that there is another survey commissioned by friends of Malacañang, but whose results are being guarded as tightly as a national security secret. This one, about winnability, supposedly showed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo behind her predecessor Joseph Estrada and resigned Education Secretary Raul Roco, who tied for second place with opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Now would this have anything to do with the filing — at last — of formal charges against Lacson? Ping did not help his case by refusing to rule out the possibility that he might seek the presidency. He is not actively preparing for a presidential run, he claimed. But if you have made it to national office, he said, it would be hypocrisy to claim that you won’t aspire for a higher post.

I guess he has learned lessons in candor. No more "I hate politics and politicians" for Ping Lacson. But he has not learned lessons in "foot-in-mouth" disease. In case you haven’t noticed, Ping, all the persons perceived to be potential rivals of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are falling by the wayside, or at least getting into some kind of trouble with the government. These days having a run-in with the administration does not necessarily mean falling by the wayside. But it can be a vexing experience for whoever is in the cross hairs of the administration’s sniper department.

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It doesn’t matter if a person is rating or not in the surveys. Anyone rumored to be a possible candidate will be annihilated. First to be neutralized was Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. Next was Roco, who must prepare for a bruising legal battle over those complaints filed against him by employees of the Department of Education.

The demolition job has started on the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Edgardo Angara. Lacson, of course, has long been a prime target, not only because he is widely suspected to be a major destabilizer of this administration, but also because he continues to enjoy a strong following. If he runs in 2004 he could get the bloc that swept Joseph Estrada into power. This is a solid, formidable voting bloc that is not swayed by any dirt, real or imagined, dug up against their candidate.

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Who else could end up in the cross hairs? Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes knows what’s good for him and has issued a categorical statement, denying that he would run for president in 2004. Will there be similar statements from Senators Loren Legarda-Leviste and Noli de Castro?

There’s another one: Chief Justice Hilario Davide. The Ramon Magsaysay awardee is being eyed by some quarters — including known supporters of President GMA who are having doubts about her these days — as an alternative in 2004.

Would this have anything to do with the President’s hands-on campaign against so-called hoodlums in robes? There is a suspicion that in going after corrupt magistrates, risking accusations that she is meddling in the affairs of a co-equal branch of government, the President is trying to show that the Supreme Court has been ineffectual in its job of cleaning up the judiciary. And who heads the judicial branch?

If Davide makes the mistake of even hinting he is not ruling out a presidential run, he will never know what hit him. Don’t think that because this administration owes its legitimacy to him and his court, he will be spared by the demolition department. Remember Roco’s role in the impeachment proceedings against Erap. Remember Guingona’s "I accuse" privileged speech, which got the impeachment ball rolling.

No, this administration does not want to be saddled with debts of gratitude. I don’t know if the President is aware of it, or if she cares about it, but there is a growing perception that in her desire to be in power for a full nine years, she is not just shunting rivals out of the way but trying to destroy them.

The perception is that her aim, as in her campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, is total annihilation. In the case of the Abu Sayyaf, she had to call in the Americans to drive the terrorists out of Basilan (now they’re holed up in Sulu). But in the case of her political enemies, she is by herself fully capable of destruction.

Some of the black propaganda now emerging against her potential rivals are so downright sick they look like the handiwork of men constantly high on shabu who have not had a decent woman in a decade. Is Davide ready for these shock troops? The thinking among the President’s image-makers, it seems, is that all things being equal, he or she who plays the dirtiest bags the prize.

It’s a worrisome trend that could leave the nation’s political landscape bleak for many years to come. The demolition reminds you of kaingin — the slash-and-burn method of farming that is beneficial only to the farmer, and only for the very short-term. This will be the tragic legacy of this administration.

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HOODLUMS IN GOVERNMENT: Leave it to the crooks of this administration to make money even from the shortest stretch of road. Reports said Kabihasnan Road in Parañaque will finally be opened after more than a year out of commission. But motorists will have to pay P5 for use of that short cut to Coastal Road.

The Philippine Estates Authority must be trying to make up for its lost deal with Amari. And the Toll Regulatory Board said yes without hesitation. That’s the TRB’s job: to milk every cent possible from motorists. This is where our taxes go. I bet a chunk of the windfall will go to someone’s campaign kitty.

These crooks in government we’ll never see paraded on prime-time news.