Fading away

She will just fade away, President Arroyo told the troops last Friday, likening herself to old soldiers who never die.

The wistful statement might have stemmed from feeling her power eroding with each passing day. At a recent caucus of lawmakers belonging to the pro-administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD, only about 35 diehards showed up, giving the President an indication of a humiliating trouncing she could suffer if she puts herself up as her eviscerated party’s candidate for speaker of the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress.

But I don’t know how fading away can be possible when thousands of Arroyo loyalists are now occupying tenured positions in government, several of them in sensitive, money-making agencies. Unless invalidated, some of the appointments will last until the end of the term of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s successor.

Her favorite soldier, Delfin Bangit, who initially said he would do a Jesus Verzosa and submit his courtesy resignation to the next commander-in-chief, changed his mind and now likens resignation to cowardice. Did Bangit call the national police chief a coward?

Bangit, whose fourth star was never confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, would have served more than three months at the helm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when his favorite president steps down at noon of June 30. That’s longer than Rodolfo Biazon served as AFP chief during the presidency of Corazon Aquino, and nearly as long as the service of chief of staff Benjamin Defensor.

Instead of trying to paint his personal travails as a reflection of unease down the ranks, Bangit should just thank the heavens and GMA for the privilege of being able to add “AFP chief of staff” to his résumé. Three months or three years, this achievement can no longer be taken away from his military record. Then, acknowledging that the incoming president doesn’t trust him, Bangit can “just fade away.”

In the case of the outgoing commander-in-chief, “rotting away” may be more accurate than “fading away,” in the face of likely indictments for crimes that can keep her behind bars for the rest of her life.

As everyone knows, however, the President also made sure she has insurance coverage for that possibility. She has installed her loyalists in judicial positions that can spell the difference between her future freedom or incarceration.

In the countdown to the end of her term, there is newfound industriousness at the Department of Justice, with officials saying they want to eliminate their case backlog before a new administration comes in. Critics, on the other hand, say the resolution of cases is being fast-tracked particularly in matters where Malacañang and its allies have a special interest.

The judicial system, packed with people appointed or promoted due to the right connections rather than competence and integrity, will be one of the biggest hindrances to the realization of Benigno Aquino III’s principal campaign promise: the elimination of corruption.

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Aquino’s victory by a landslide over GMA’s preferred candidate(s) and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada is already seen as a major step in reducing if not eliminating graft.  

How well he can follow through is another story. Last week, echoing his late mother’s mantra after the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Aquino said he was ready for political reconciliation, but with justice.

After the 1986 people power revolt, those who worked with the Marcos regime were ostracized or fired outright by the revolutionary government. The number of those affected was considerable, given that Marcos had 20 years to dole out patronage and nurture alliances. Reconciliation with justice was painted by those affected as a euphemism for vindictiveness – a characteristic often attributed, fairly or unfairly, to the first Aquino administration. At the end of six years, there was little that was achieved, whether in terms of reconciliation or justice.

Learning from his mother’s experience, Noynoy may have to avoid the pursuit of justice wholesale, and focus instead on the prosecution of a few big fish. There are simply too many public officials touched by corruption in this country, and he will have to work, if not fully reconcile, with many of them if he wants to push forward his anti-poverty agenda.

That attitude can also encourage the least guilty to testify against the biggest offenders.

With the right approach, Romulo Neri may even be persuaded to reveal the information he withheld from the Senate about the national broadband deal with ZTE Corp.

Neri has already indicated willingness to talk, telling STAR columnist Wilson Lee Flores that he did not intend to become a martyr.

After Neri invoked executive privilege, the story that went around was that he was set to disclose GMA’s instruction to him in connection with the broadband deal. According to the story, when he told her about Benjamin Abalos’ alleged P200-million offer in exchange for endorsement of the deal by the National Economic and Development Authority, the President ignored the bribery attempt and told Neri to give what Abalos wanted.

Neri, at the time director-general of the NEDA whose board is chaired ex officio by the President, would later cite the incident to certain individuals in describing the chief executive as “evil.”

He didn’t benefit personally from the aborted deal, unless you can call a reassignment to the Social Security System from the Cabinet portfolio of economic planning as a promotion. So Neri can turn state witness in the ZTE case.

The incoming administration may also obtain documentary evidence, already available, that can pin down GMA’s first justice chief and political mentor, Hernando Perez, in the alleged $2-million payoff for a legal opinion on a port contract favoring Argentine firm IMPSA.

That opinion was issued just days after GMA was installed in power through EDSA II in 2001.

It won’t be easy to fade away as the moment of reckoning approaches.