First up, politically curious citizens are puzzled or wondering how PGMA, known to be an influencer and allegedly one of the closest advisers of President Bongbong Marcos, could be so casually stripped of her position as Senior Deputy Speaker.
It was not so long ago when PGMA was denied the position of Speaker of the House after her protégé Martin Romualdez proved that to the victor goes the spoils and that blood is thicker than water. Being stripped of her Senior Deputy Speaker’s position is effectively a demotion handed down by the House of Representatives. The question is why?
I personally believe that PGMA will probably be offered or given a position in the government that will be a lot more important than being a legislator or Deputy Speaker of the House. Given the scarcity of competent and strong-willed, politically savvy people in the Philippine landscape, it would not surprise me if President Bongbong Marcos “begs” PGMA to take the bullet for the country.
If Erap went from president to mayor and PGMA from president to congresswoman, why should it stop anyone from serving the country in these difficult times? Such a move in one way or another would add public confidence in the administration of PBBM.
If, on the other hand, I missed the mark by a mile, then I can only guess that PGMA may be the target of political strategists who are bent on neutralizing PGMA or making her insignificant in the mid-term elections as well as in the next presidential elections due to her supposed close ties with Vice President Sara Duterte, who people expect to go up against Martin Romualdez as the next president.
However things go, I would much rather that PGMA be tapped to become a senior Cabinet member of PBBM than be listed as another victim of the political power play designed to isolate President Bongbong Marcos. PBBM has reportedly been cut off from the rest of the Marcos/Romualdez clan and his early supporters who are now excluded from presidential events and travels.
* * *
As the mid-term elections draw nearer and nearer, you can be sure that there will be more and more “investigations in aid of legislation” as a means to exhibit performance in office or to self-promote in the public eye.
Let’s all pray that investigating bodies in Congress and the Senate as well as the Office of the Ombudsman will continue to keep their lines and minds open when citizens make “sumbong” or send tips on possible leads whether they are sufficient in form and substance or not.
For instance, when the NGO SINAG or Samahang Industriya Ng Agrikultura sounded the alarm regarding the proposed 10 bio-fertilizer proposal of the Department of Agriculture, the authorities and members of Congress and the Senate were slow to react perhaps because accusing and investigating the Department of Agriculture is tantamount to saying that President Bongbong Marcos is corrupt or uninformed.
If our legislators ever find the courage to do their sworn duties, they might want to investigate a tip shared to me by a trusted source.
According to my friend, three officials of the DA appeared in Malacañang bearing supporting documents for Memorandum 32 (I think) that proposed the procurement of a biofertilizer to be used for distribution to rice farmers all over the Philippines for free. The three officials must have assumed that since the budgeted P10 billion would be coming from the Rice Tariffication program, there would be no howls of protest on what type of fertilizer was used.
Big mistake. It seems someone inside Malacañang was familiar with this sort of proposals and took the time to check specs and details for the biofertilizer to be purchased. What the person allegedly discovered was that the formulation and content of the biofertilizer were so exact down to the drop that it was clearly “designed or intended” to favor a specific brand or supplier.
If you add the tailor-made basis for “bidding” to the claims of SINAG that using biofertilizers would be more expensive by several thousand pesos per hectare, I think the investigators in Congress, Senate and Office of the Ombudsman will easily find where the stink comes from.
* * *
During the last investigation of the Senate committee on public order, it was reported that Senator Bato dela Rosa blew his top or lost his temper after listening to the testimony of a police sergeant and PDEA officer who stands accused of recycling large amounts of shabu.
Given how Senator Dela Rosa is now experiencing the blow back from Oplan Double Barrel and Oplan Tokhang, I can appreciate if Senator Bato more than blows his top. It’s no walk in the park to be on the list of the ICC, constantly being blamed for the thousands of EJK cases and still have to listen to testimony exposing corrupt cops in the institution he once led.
Annoying and infuriating as that may be, Senator Bato needs to continue looking into the PNP state of affairs, particularly concerning corrupt generals and colonels who came after his term. The cancer in the PNP is not limited to two generals or 10 generals. The corruption and criminality are not limited to those in active service but include some who have been allowed to retire.
A former official told me that Senator Dela Rosa should look into the assignments, placements and recycling of personnel of the PNP, especially those who were or are implicated in drug busts and EJKs. Two such individuals were reassigned to Basilan by President Duterte as punishment for involvement in drugs. But it seems that very high-ranking officers/generals reinstated them to NCR until they were once again busted for the same crime. One of them Senator Bato grilled at the Senate, the other is reportedly now a full colonel at the PNP headquarters in Crame.
* * *
E-mail: utalk2ctalk@gmail.com