Finally, the Political Adviser of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III Sec. Ronald Llamas apologized to the President a full week after he was caught buying pirated DVDs. Of course, Pres. PNoy continues to support him because he supposedly did not break any laws, because in this country buying pirated video films are not a crime. So if he did not do anything wrong, why then did Llamas have to issue that apology? This is the kind of leadership we have in our country today, high ranking government officials who openly lie to the public to save their necks!
But since selling pirated video films is against the law, the question is why were the video pirates in Circle C allowed to sell those pirated wares? How come this illegal activity was not reported by the Optical Media Board (OMB)? At the very least, Ronald Llamas is guilty of dereliction of duty because as a government officer, he should have reported the presence of video pirates to the OMB so that they could be apprehended and prosecuted. He clearly failed in that duty. What we have clearly established is that, the word “delicadeza” doesn’t exist in the Aquino Regime. But they were good in demanding it when they were in the opposition against then Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Let’s see what OMB Chair Ronnie Rickets have to say about this. Meanwhile, for as long as Llamas is not sanctioned by Pres. PNoy, his Daang Matuwid loses its credibility. Pres. PNoy should stop yapping about fighting corruption in this country when his own men are doing dishonest acts!
* * *
It’s posturing time. We read that report coming from President Hubert d’ Aboville of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) supporting the anti-corruption effort of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III. Then he went on to say, “fair competition and a level playing field for investors should be a prime concern for the Philippine economy to grow.” To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised why Mr. Hubert d’ Aboville came up with that statement three days after the Philippine government won its 9-year old case against the Philippine International Air Terminals, Co. (PIATCO) at the Singapore-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) whose ruling has become final and executory.
Such a statement only proves the ignorance of the officers of the ECCP of the extent of the corruption happening in this country. Obviously they are only reading the national newspapers, but oblivious to what’s happening within the government bureaucracy. Last week I had a meeting with a very high Cabinet official who told me that even getting a check from his department would take a minimum 2 weeks as there are too many people who will “process” that check.
This is due to the reality that there is a general mistrust of our government employees that they would steal that money. But the reality is 95 percent of our government workers are clean and do an honest day’s toil. It is the corrupt 5 percent who steals the government coffers and paint their department as a corrupt agency.
If Pres. PNoy thinks that impeaching Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona is his way to fighting corruption, believe you me, it will not eradicate corruption in the lower ranks of the government bureaucracy unless you overhaul the system first. The Commission on Audit (COA) for instance has only proven to be inutile in curbing corruption. They’re great in putting more bureaucracy in the system, yet corruption thrives like COA never existed at all! This is why we need to overhaul the entire government bureaucracy!
The Office of the Ombudsman is one of these constitutional bodies that needs to be overhauled because of its highly-centralized command and control structure, which makes people like Virginia Santiago mere postal officials. Now that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was forced to resign and has since been replaced by Associate Justice Conchita Morales-Carpio, things have virtually remained the same. Virginia Santiago still has no power to prosecute corrupt government officials. So what’s new in this country?
* * *
That the Kenyan National Asha Atieno Oguto, who was caught at the Mactan Airport last Sept.29, 2011, has been handed down a life sentence by Regional Trial Court Branch 27 only proves that the billion dollar drug industry does not only use Filipinos as drug mules, but many other people from mostly 3rd World countries. She had 1.5 kilos of shabu in her luggage and since she’s an African national, she stood out from the rest of the crowd. Score one for Republic Act no. 9165. She should count herself as lucky that she was caught in the Philippines were we no longer have a death penalty. If she were in China, she’d be executed.
* * *
Email to vsbobita@mozcom.com