What's behind Merci impeachment; the leftist adviser

Some friends of mine asked questions with good points about the vote to impeach Ombudsman Merci Gutierrez. What are rules that spell out what and how many issues must be investigated by the Ombudsman? Are there any rules as to when? Ms. Gutierrez’s term is not yet over.

Is she being impeached for done deeds or for deeds in a possible future? Does ombudsman serve “politically” or constitutionally on a fixed term? Does she serve Malacañang or Justice? In like manner she adds should we not ask how many bills must be authored by a congressman or a senator to justify millions received annually? Can an official be impeached for not investigating cases not yet brought before the court.

Although these are good points, they do not count in “money politics” of the Philippines. Even if there were rules, it will not be followed. Members of congress consider impeachment a political act. That is one way of interpreting “impeachment.” Guilt is not being established by voting for impeachment. What it does is merely open the process of investigation.

I agree with those who say that it is not Ms. Gutierrez who is the real target of the impeachment but former President Gloria Arroyo. President Aquino had said as much. He says by remaining in her post Gutierrez comes in the way of fighting corruption meaning accusations against the former president. If it is true that all the members of Congress received augmented pork barrel in exchange for the vote against her, then what is the difference between the alleged corruption in the previous administration and how money was used to impeach the Ombudsman?

It is also being pushed that the Senate proceedings of the impeachment be televised. It seems to me it is trial by publicity and not transparency that is desired. The aim is to drive the nail harder against the former president.

This is in lieu of the Truth Commission that did not happen. To many the former president’s problems began when she withdrew the Philippine contingent from Iraq and worked for closer relations with China. She survived the machinations that were designed to oust her. All and that must rile her enemies. They will not let her go unpunished. Unlike Erap she was sterner stuff and she won in the struggle for the country’s sovereignty but she remains unforgiven. The impeachment of the Ombudsman is a continuation of teaching her a lesson for trying to cut out a more independent foreign policy.

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It may be tempting to assail the political adviser of President Noynoy Ronald Llamas because he is a leftist. It is not being leftist that is wrong but using a leftist for a rightist agenda. Moreover, there is no need to call him names. The dispute is whether the ARMM elections should be cancelled. If it is true that he was responsible for the advice to President Noynoy to cancel the elections then I would question his credentials even if he is said to be a “progressive” as president of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party.

Therefore he has to be watched. Ronald Llamas is a prominent Filipino activist and the current political adviser of President Noynoy. He became adviser to the president because Akbayan is a coalition partner of the Liberal Party.He may be described as progressive or leftist. He can also be among those leftists that are useful for a rightist agenda.

To me cancelling the ARMM elections is not being progressive. It is backward. His leftist affiliation and credentials are a convenient cover for the true aim of cancelling the elections. It is reported he was “already a key adviser of President Aquino and LP president and former senator Mar Roxas during the campaign. He was also appointed to a lucrative position as a director of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

No wonder other leftists are critical.Partido Lakas ng Masa Chairman Sonny Melencio said “Akbayan seems to have found its final resting place . . . Its fortunes are now completely tied to the rise and fall of President Noynoy.”

Melencio also raised the “problem of cooptation”. How can a leftist accept a position in a government that “is now the chief administrator of an unabashedly pro-capitalist neo-liberal program,” and that is “still . . . elite-dominated and pro-capitalist.” asks Melencio.

According to Melencio a true leftist must present a genuine alternative to the “system,” and that “a truly social, socialist alternative...can best and (only) be developed today from without the system, including the ‘Aquino system,’ rather from within.”

I think there are wider implications to his appointment that has now come under scrutiny because of his alleged advice to cancel the ARMM election. It looks more like a political strategy on how to use the leftists for rightist aims. President Noynoy is said to have described him as “our longtime ally and comrade.”

He was also a founder of Bisig (Bukluran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa) in the late 1980s. The other founders were Inquirer columnist Randolph David who served in the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation and former UP President Francis Nemenzo who at one time received grants from the UK government.

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MISCELLANY: Whether or not there was such a study by Harvard that “Filipinos are the most gullible people on earth” is less the point than whether it is true that Filipinos are gullible most of the time. This gullibility is especially harmful during elections. The Mosquito Press (according to Wikipedia, the name assumed by Philippine Collegian during martial law) has thought of a clever way to teach Filipinos not to be gullible so I put it up as the title of my column yesterday.

Football as a national sport of the Philippines got another boost with the Azkals winning 3-0 over Bangladeshis. Congratulations. But remember that victories often lead to overconfidence and eventually defeat. Better to have steady confidence, cultivating the habit of perfection — that can make Azkals true champions.