Aquino has time to recover

The appointment of Chief Superintendent Moro Virgilio Lazo as the new SAF Director is a step towards the right direction – one that could help boost the sagging morale of the PNP in general and the SAF in particular. A graduate of PMA Maharlika Class of ’84, I have watched this Laoag native from the sidelines and I must say he is a PNP officer we can all admire. Those who know him well are convinced he is a perfect fit for the job, describing him as a SAF trooper “through and true” having joined the elite force a few months after his graduation from the Academy. His appointment is certainly timely and opportune, not to mention encouraging as the SAF men and women need to be reassured that there is someone who would be able to understand their plight and relate, having been there, done that, so to speak.

The next step of course is to get the right man to replace Alan Purisima as PNP chief by appointing somebody who is competent and whose credibility will not be questioned by the men and women in the police force. The president should learn by now that narrowing down the candidates for key positions to those who belong to the KKK — kapartido, kaklase, kabarilan, etc. — who are pally-wally with him is absolutely not the way to go. No one should delude himself into thinking that personal loyalty translates into job competence. When you get people who are incompetent, you normally pay for it in the end because as commander-in-chief, the buck always stops with you.

Over the years, many of us have learned while working in the corporate world that usually, those who trumpet their loyalty and think their friendship with the boss is their single most important qualification for the job – are in reality loyal only to themselves and not the company they work for, especially when they see that it can mean more perks for themselves. As the visionary business magnate Don Amado Araneta, grandfather of Mar Roxas, and the man who elevated the Araneta name into the national consciousness via the Araneta Center where the iconic Araneta Coliseum is located, once said he would never appoint relatives or close friends to his companies because they think that by affinity they have a license to do what they want and steal from the company.

The President should take charge like what he did when he engaged in a dialogue with the PNP’s elite Special Action Force including the 84th Seaborne Company, the strike team tasked to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan during the January 25 “Operation Exodus” in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

It seemed for a while he was in hiding because of his tendency to skip important appointments, like the recent Joint Foreign Chambers’ “Arangkada Forum” at the Makati Shangri-La where he was a no-show. Ironically, this administration’s biggest achievement is the country’s economic upturn and yet he failed to show up in such a forum.

Meantime, he should also caution his mouthpieces from always blaming the past for the things that are going wrong today, like the MRT for example. This is not helping him any because it only makes the already angry public angrier. At some point, the president should face the media and answer their questions point blank – something that he is good at anyway – since he has the capacity to explain himself in a very articulate manner when he wants to.

One other thing P-Noy should do is to listen to good advice from knowledgeable people like Senator Miriam Santiago, a constitutional law expert who says government should scrap the Bangsamoro Basic Law altogether and restart negotiations to correct the flawed provisions. I think we should revisit the proposed measure and review everything carefully instead of pushing too hard to get it passed in haste to make sure it does not go against the Constitution and is acceptable to everyone. Even if the BBL is passed, it is not an assurance that peace will be achieved if there is no real representation for all stakeholders.

Those who are against the passage of the BBL also question the ability of the MILF to deliver on their commitment since it is apparent that another belligerent faction in the form of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters is intent on derailing the peace process. In fact, BIFF leader Abu Misry Mama even contemptuously described the government as “a dog that is all bark, no bite.”

A September 2014 analytical piece published by geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor says autonomy alone will not stabilize Bangsamoro because other militant groups that were excluded in the peace negotiations will not recognize the authority of the MILF. Add to that the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group and the New People’s Army and you have a combustible mix that will make it difficult for any government to assert control in the fractious region regardless of the kind of deal that the government and the MILF will reach.

President Aquino has a little over a year left to recover his credibility before his term ends. He should take full control and show “statesmanship,” as the academic sector is urging, and do what needs to be done, totally devoid of partisan politics. On many occasions, he admitted that he owes his presidency to the legacy left to him by his parents. More than that as president of this great nation of ours – his job is to protect, defend and look after the welfare of the over 107 million Filipinos – not just the interest of his “kapartido, kabarkada or kabarilan.”

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