At least Biazon still has delicadeza

Since we got hit by Super Typhoon "Yolanda" and the whole world witnessed the Aquino Regime bungling the disaster relief and rescue operations, we said that finally, Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino III's backbone program that he calls "Daang Matuwid" has fallen flat on its face. The whole truth about this slogan has now emerged as nothing but mere rhetoric whose only value is propaganda for PNoy. Because of so many things he has done or should I say he has failed to do, this slogan has turned against him to haunt his presidency in his last remaining years.

A case in point is the case of Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon, whose performance, or should I say non-performance, has become legendary, where people kept asking "Whatever happened to the 2,000 container vans that disappeared from the Port of Manila?" Things went worse for Biazon when no less than PNoy himself lambasted the Bureau of Customs in what many of my textmates sent me "In the most unpresidential and abusive street language." In fairness to Biazon, he offered his resignation via text message to the president…but to our horror, the president kept him in his post, saying that he still had confidence in him.

Well last week, the Department of Justice charged Biazon together with 34 other members of Congress and individuals in the second batch of respondents in the cases of malversation, direct bribery and graft for the alleged misuse of the now defunct Priority Development Assistance Fund, a.k.a. Pork Barrel. Mind you, this is a serious charge that is being slapped against Biazon, and as we all thought, he should have once more tendered his resignation because of his delicadeza.

But instead of asking the Customs Commissioner to hand in his resignation or even demand it…Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma, Jr. and yes even the DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima issued a statement that "There is no legal compulsion" for Biazon to hand in his resigna-tion. Delicadeza is an individual decision." My God! If we were referring to someone else not close to the president, they would have demanded for a resignation or worse even fire the person. Didn't this happen to a PAGASA chief who was "forced" to resign?

Biazon kept his silence on whether he would resign or not. When I was about to send this column, I got word that finally, Bi-azon resigned. That means that the fellow still has some delicadeza left in him. But this honor belongs solely to him and not his bosses inside Malacañang who had to make all those legal excuses for him to stay on. This is why Daan Matuwid for many of us is now called Daan Nituwad! So I take my hat off to Comm. Biazon, who is a rarity in the Aquino gov't.

Meanwhile, we read that news report last Thursday that former senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson had accepted the position given to him by PNoy to be the Rehabilitation Czar for the victims of Super Typhoon "Yolanda". In that news statement, the former senator found the position "very interesting and exciting". I would have thought that a person like Ping Lacson would have used the words, "difficult or challenging" Perhaps he doesn't know that this job is a full-time job that would take years to do. Maybe Ping just wants the title, knowing fully well that when there is a new president after three years, he will be out of this post.

It just begs the question why of all people Malacañang had to choose former Sen. Ping Lacson for the job of Rehabilitation Czar? Surely the president's advisers could have given other names more credible than Ping Lacson? When this issue first came to light, I thought that having a Rehabilitation Czar was unnecessary, after all, rebuilding Tacloban City and all the other towns on the eastern seaboard of Leyte and Samar could never happen in just a couple of years. Knowing how we Filipinos operate, I'm looking at a minimum of ten years. Come on! The widening of Escario St. took all but ten years, and the widening of M. Velez St. along the Provincial Capitol remains unfinished from the time we started it in the year 2005.

But anyway, Malacañang insisted on having a Rehabilitation Czar. So why couldn't they have chosen a man who has built more homes than anyone else in government? I'm referring to Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga? He would have been perfect for that job for the simple reason that he has the greatest experience in constructing low-cost housing. GK's performance is known worldwide… while I'm sure that the former Senator Lacson must be pondering on how to start this rebuilding thing. I don't have to tell you that Daang Matuwid is just making too many mistakes one after the other. Which is why people no longer believe in this presidential slogan…a very empty slogan that people no longer accept hook, line and sinker!

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