Last week when Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales out of the blue cleared Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III from any liability in the alleged misuse of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and instead ordered a preliminary investigation on Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad, she literally triggered a potential internal trouble in the Daang Matuwid paradise.
With that piece of news, what did you expect Sec. Abad to do? But tell the truth… that no less than Pres. Aquino approved and signed the release of funds for the controversial DAP. If you ask me, that statement puts the Ombudsman in a bad light for prematurely clearing the President of any liability. There is no doubt that the testimony of Sec. Abad was aimed to clear his name and pin the blame on the President, after all P-Noy did sign those DAP documents, therefore he can no longer escape any liability, especially after his term as President expires in the Year 2016.
Now if the Supreme Court (SC) in an en banc decision already declared the DAP and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) as unconstitutional, logic dictates that any person involved in approval and distribution of these unconstitutional funds should be hauled to court. For the DAP, that means, Sec. Abad should not only be investigated, the Office of the Ombudsman is duty bound to have him suspended.
But then what can we expect from the Ombudsman if she already cleared P-Noy? Will she have the guts or the political will to suspend Sec. Abad… or will we see how things are done by those who espouse the Daang Matuwid, where allies of the President are spared from prosecution, while those who are not with the President get the full force of the law?
This is why the ratings of P-Noy’s anointed one, former DILG Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas has not gone up, except in the Yellow Propaganda surveys. Why? Because in telling the Filipino people that he would continue the Daang Matuwid program, a huge number of Filipinos are so sick and turned off. So the more Roxas sells the Daang Matuwid line, the more he sinks deeper into the political abyss because it is clear proof that voting for Mar Roxas would be akin to voting P-Noy again. If Mar Roxas continues with his Daang Matuwid path… someday he will realize that it is the road to his own perdition.
Meanwhile the Liberal Party is headed for more trouble in that Liberal Party gathering for the birthday of Laguna Rep. Benjie Agarao where sexy playgirls were used to perform lewd sexual acts, purportedly a “gift” by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman and Senatorial bet Francis Tolentino who has distanced himself from this embarrassing video that has gone viral in the social media networks.
How times have changed indeed. In the old days before the EDSA Revolution, political parties would hold parties and let their candidates give speeches for the future of the country. But things changed and I recall that when a man who was so powerful during the Marcos Dictatorship ran for the Senate, he didn’t make any speeches anymore, but merely danced the “Otso-otso”! Yes, I’m talking about Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
The Playgirls lewd act in that LP bash only shows that the people behind the Liberal Party have all but lost their morality. Nothing is sacred anymore. But there is a great majority of Filipino voters who were appalled by that video of sexy girls play acting the sex act no matter how far Malacañang Palace distances itself from that dirty dancing act. So many people have been scandalized and would never vote anyone from the Liberal Party. Not surprisingly, I have not heard the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issue any statement against such lewd behavior by the party in power. It just makes me wonder why?
Meanwhile, with the Aquino regime now on its final months, it seems that many bureaucrats are now trying to secure more dirty deals where it can be found. Incidentally, I just got a text message from someone high in the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) seeking some deals, even stupidly texting a friend of mine who wanted to meet a contractor in all confidence. Then a couple of days later, the Inquirer came up with a report in their Business page entitled “Watchdogs” Biz Buzz giving out details of this DOTC high official. Clearly someone is trying to cut deals before the game is over.
The same thing is also happening at the Department of Tourism (DOT), which has embarked on that unnecessary and stupid Hotel Ratings Program which they already have been accused of corruption. With a few months still in power, there is now a frenzy of corruption happening in this country, which we can say is P-Noy’s Gotterdammerung.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com