Betrayal of public trust

The caustic reaction of House of Representatives minority floor leader Edsel Lagman to President Noynoy Aquino’s SONA is expected. No opposition politician has praised a SONA. It is illogical and absurd to expect an oppositionist to commend a president for depicting a government made desolate by a predecessor belonging to that oppositionist’s political party.

Lakas-Kampi Rep. Edcel Lagman assailed P-Noy’s SONA as bereft of specifics, his proposals virtually hanging in the air expecting Congress to fill in the blanks and the president suffering from a “prosecutor’s complex” manifested in the creation of a Truth Commission to investigate anomalies under the GMA administration. Lagman said this is indicative of a divisive disposition that drives a wedge between the people and the country’s leaders, instead of unifying the nation.

Is Lagman expecting Pres. Aquino to paint a rosy picture of the government and its finances he inherited from GMA? Is the new president expected to overlook and consign to the past the mind-boggling misdeeds and plunder of the public treasury by the previous administration ignoring the constitutionally-mandated precepts of transparency and public accountability in governance? The Aquino administration is expected to provide adequate essential public services, especially in emergencies. Now, the people know that what is left to provide these public services is meager.

The expose in the SONA of the inconceivable scams in the MWSS, NFA, Napocor, DPWH and MRT is called for. Many expected P-Noy to have identified by their names the officials behind these scams. In fact, several of those behind these deceptions must be so shameless that up to now they have not tendered their resignations. One MWSS official said on TV that their salaries, allowances and bonuses are a bit high and should only be reduced. Pres. Aquino would have been remiss in his obligation to the Filipino people if he kept quiet and not exposed these irregularities.

TV news reports showing NFA warehouses filled with sacks of rice, undistributed since 2008 when the shelf life of rice is only six months is shocking to the conscience, with many poor people not eating three square meals a day. Not too long ago, people were lining up to buy cheap rice. NFA administrator Lito Banayo’s statement, “we’re swimming in rice” graphically picture the misdeeds of those responsible for this fraudulent activity through which it is not illogical to conclude that huge “tong-pats” were earned.

The quick reaction of DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson to the initially-discovered 19 flood control projects worth P934 million approved in the last two weeks of the GMA administration without public bidding is timely and decisive. The negotiated contracts signed on June 18 when their SAROs ( Special Allocation Release Order) were released on June 25 ( meaning the contracts were unauthorized when signed) is indicative of their “midnight” character absolutely demonstrative of “tong-pats” advanced to those who facilitated and approved the contracts. The cancellation of these contracts is called for. In a like manner, other contracts and awards like the franchises issued by a notorious DOTC agency must also be revoked forthwith, lest message is sent that corruption pays and pays handsomely without retribution. Of course, you have the recent “bomb” dropped by the new MMDA chairman, former Tagaytay City Mayor Francis Tolentino in an interview exposing the “payola” system allegedly paid by some well-known bus operators. It’s no wonder then why despite all the planning and strategizing conducted to lessen the traffic problems and the implementation of rules against reckless driving, here we are, the helpless commuters, still faced with the same concerns and fears as we go about in our everyday travel. Sanamagan!

By the way, I wish the MMDA good luck! It really needs to straighten up its policies regarding the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program popularly known as “number coding”. One of the objectives of the UVVRP is to minimize traffic. When the agency (during the past administration) issued “vanity license plates,” they had already failed the public like many agencies do in this country. The officials fail to deliver good, logical and practical service to the public due to vested interests.

If P-Noy is leading us to do what is right then we must voluntarily try our best to follow suite. Let us stop trying to get away with the law. We need to re-condition our minds to be good citizens and I sure hope this Administration will show us the way. I think that the MMDA must take a strong stand supported by no less than the President himself. We must not be intimidated by nitpickers, grumblers and crabs who only think of themselves and their well-being and not of the nation.

*   *   *

Another important matter that P-Noy must give attention to is his first appointment to the Supreme Court. The Judicial and Bar Council has chosen six nominees for a vacant seat in the Supreme Court which must be filled up before August 17, ninety days after the vacancy was created on May 17 when Justice Renato Corona was appointed Chief Justice. They are: Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao; CA Justice Noel Tijam; former UP College of Law Dean Raul Pangalangan; Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento; CA Justice Hakim Abdulwahid; and Asian Institute of Management Executive Director Ms. Lourdes Sereno.

Following the announcement of the six nominees, are reactions from Bench and Bar that there was not enough delving into the track records, reputation and character of the nominees. Under Section 1 of Rule 4 of the Rules of the Judicial and Bar Council, the JBC “shall take every possible step to verify the applicant’s record and reputation.”

Among P-Noy’s campaign promises are judicial reforms, highlighted with his slogan “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap”. Many who want good appointees to the judiciary, especially to the Supreme Court, will be utterly dismayed if the president’s first appointee is not known for honesty, integrity, incorruptibility and irreproachable conduct.

Many will lobby with Malacañang for the appointment of their particular candidates. P-Noy should ignore these lobbyists and appoint one with intellectual gravitas and a public reputation for integrity. He should consider following his mother’s criteria when she appointed her first batch of Supreme Court justices to give the discredited Marcos Supreme Court a new look of respectability with the quality of the appointees.