It was a jam-packed presscon at the Grandcon yesterday called by Gov. Gwen F. Garcia who faced the media in order to set things right about the case of the Balili property scandal that has been swirling in the last couple of weeks. She gave a timeline on this lot purchase since the year 2007, hence one cannot say that this deal was done with undue haste. I’m sure that you will read the reports of the Governor’s presentation in our local dailies.
What is crystal clear is that, the Governor relied on the committee tasked to handle this deal, notably Provincial Board Member Juan Bolo whom she said had an impeccable track record in public service. But from that presentation, Board Member Bolo and or the heirs of Balili withheld information that part of that titled property was indeed underwater.
Hence the Governor in an earlier presscon already apologized for this fiasco as she pointed out that the buck stops with her. So, was the Governor right in trusting the committee to tackle the details of this deal? What we are seeing are two styles in management - Gov. Gwen Garcia who uses and trusts the Capitol bureaucracy or the style of Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who personally handles negotiations and not trusting it to anyone. Which is right or wrong? Let the legal luminaries analyze the two different methods in management style because surely, in both cases, there is a presumption of regularity that is present.
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By now you must have already heard or read the news that Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas made that dramatic announcement that he would give way to the Presidential ambition of Sen. Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III. Allow me to salute Mar Roxas for this gallant act that reminds me of the time when then Sen. Salvador “Doy” Laurel gave up his Presidential ambition for the honor and prestige to battle then Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos and allow Tita Cory Aquino to run for President and thus united the fragmented opposition.
But this unexpected announcement by Sen. Roxas opens big questions like what many pundits are asking, whether Noynoy Aquino already (because as of press time, he hasn’t made that decision yet) decided to go for the Presidency and accepted the “torch” passed on to him so to speak or was it a preemptive move on the part of Mar Roxas to “force” Noynoy to enter the Presidential bandwagon albeit half-baked, hoping that he won’t show any interest and instead give it back to Sen. Roxas and thus solve the dilemma of the Liberal Party (LP)?
The other question begging for an answer is whether this dramatic decision by Sen. Roxas would trigger that unreachable opposition unity? Of course, the opposition or at least the LP part of the opposition is trying to “cash in” on the recent burial of Tita Cory Aquino, hoping that the massive turnout for her funeral would translate to vote for the LP and bring them to power in Malacañang. With Sen. Roxas giving way to Noynoy, they are trying to make history repeat itself!
Will history repeat itself and bring that badly needed unity that the opposition needs to win against the administration party? Lest we have already forgotten, there is a huge difference between the multitude that went out by the millions for the burial of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and the burial of Tita Cory, which the Philippine National Police (PNP) said had about half-a-million people lining the streets.
That huge difference is the indignation of the Filipino people who turned out for the burial of Ninoy in disbelief that the Marcos Regime would go as far as carrying out the execution sentence of Ninoy in front of foreign journalists. Yes, those of you who were not born yet probably didn’t know that the Marcos stooges in what we called a “Kangaroo Court” sentenced Ninoy to death by musketry for crimes that he didn’t commit! So there is a group of Filipinos who believe that Ninoy wasn’t really assassinated, he was blatantly executed!
While the burial of Tita Cory brought out a multitude of grateful Filipinos to mourn the person who toppled the Marcos Dictatorship at the height of the People’s Power Revolt in EDSA. There was no indignation in the hearts of those mourners, although the opposition tried its best to show to the press that it was a show of indignation against the Arroyo Administration, which is to say how despicable politics can be.
Whether we will see the opposition rally behind a Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas tandem is something we have to see. But right now, we don’t see a beeline of Presidentiables to unite the opposition, but most of these Presidentiables congratulated Mar Roxas for his statesmanship and sacrifice.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com