Corruption, not just a mote in the eye

Through the wires, Pulse Asia survey reported that the biggest mistake or shortcoming of GMA was corruption in her administration.

While one doesn't often take poll surveys - especially dealing on political partisanship - hook, line, and sinker, the recent Pulse Asia poll seems plausible as to its verity. Even by informal remarks on the streets and farming villages, the 26 percent or about one-fourth of the nation condemning the past admin for graft and corruption can easily be discerned by random reckoning.

Considering the intelligence of GMA, it's quite certain too that she herself must have realized how the graft and corruption in the entire range of the bureaucracy had brought her integrity down tremendously.

There's no quibbling just to cover or muffle the multitude and magnitude of the thousand and one wrong-doings during the 9-year reign of GMA, or tone down the destructive impact these anomalies had brought to bear on the economy and the overall state of the nation. Summing them up from the overthrow of Erap on his "constructive resignation" until the last day of GMA in office by the Pasig, isn't necessary since the people know them by heart. Besides, a kilometric repeat per se will surely cause many to throw up, puking their innards continually.

Such inescapable realization had perhaps led GMA to resort to varying defense mechanism. For instance, with her overwhelming problems and blunders as chief executive, the end of her unpopular term could have been her most welcome relief. But yet, she had to run for Congress, like, she needed a hole in the head, obviously to have some semblance of sovereign power. For what, is simply to protect her against whatever forces, particularly against accountabilities.

 In fact, GMA's son Mikey Arroyo practically barged into the party-list group of security guards and motorcycle drivers-for-hire - supposedly a marginalized and unrepresented minority - for him to get back to Congress. This is contrary to the jurisprudence set by the Supreme Court that a marginalized farmers' group has to be represented by a farmer, the fisherfolk group to be represented by a fisherman.

 Thus, GMA representing a district of Pampanga, her son Rep. Mikey Arroyo as Party-list, Rep. Datu Arroyo, and Rep. Iggy Arroyo, the brother of former FG Mike Arroyo, and, boosting many other Party-list representatives, they could form a Lower House bloc to reckon with as back-up force.

Besides, it appears that GMA opened the door for the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to activate the nomination then of Senior Justice Renato Corona for the position of Chief Justice to preempt any turn of event, should there be cases involving GMA, as vowed by Noynoy Aquino. Of course, constitutional "purists" and other adherents of the Constitution are one that Article VII, Section 17 banning a sitting president from appointing any person within 2 months before any presidential elections, except to executive positions whose continued vacancy is prejudicial to public service or endangers public safety.

By any length of imagination, the chief justice position is never a part of the exception, as the ban is clear and unambiguous that calls for no statutory construction at all.

In relation to the pre-positioning strategy, it was also obvious that despite the appointment ban, GMA also signed some "midnight" appointments of some middle and higher ranked positions numbering almost one thousand. It's also apparent that somehow, filling these positions with men and women of her choice would not be to her disadvantage. Precisely, as also vowed by President Noynoy, he came out with Executive Order No. 2 withdrawing, canceling, and nullifying most of these "midnight" appointments.

All these and more, reveal the relentless actuations of GMA not only in pre-positioning herself per se, but more as defensive tactics against Noynoy's crusade to do justice vis-à-vis the past president's greatest blunders, that is, for the tremendous past graft and corruption.

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