Display the flag? Please tell that to PNoy

This just got in -- a text message from friends informs me that my good friend, former Cebu City Vice Mayor Renato "Nato" Osmeña passed away at 3:00 a.m. yesterday. As of this writing, I still have no details. But Nato was a dear friend. He was president of Club Filipino, Inc., a fellow member of the board of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority  and yes, a fellow big biker whom I knew since way back when I bought his Yamaha motorcycle in the 70's. My heartfelt condolences to his family. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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I turned on my tv to ANC and guess who was being interviewed by Pinky Webb -- Department of Budget and Management Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad explaining his side to the Filipino people. Clearly the Aquino regime is on the offensive using its Yellow propagandists to the hilt, including the Kris-Abunda live where his Cabinet secretaries explain what is happening with the pork scam, in their opinion. But in my book, Mr. Abad should be explaining his side not to the media for it is meaningless but before the Sandiganbayan in a court case. While waiting for the court case, Mr. Abad should take a leave of absence until he proves to the court that he is squeaky clean.

Meanwhile, in Last Wednesday's front-page report in The Philippine Star, a small-boxed headline blared, "Flags, Pinoys urged"! That piece of news came from a Malacañang's advisory posted on www.gov.ph exhorting Filipinos to display the Philippine Flag from May 28th until June 12th. I'm sure that by next week, you will see street boys selling newspapers in the streets and at the same time selling small Philippine flags. But if there is anyone who ought to proudly display the Philippine Flag, it should be no other than Pres. Benigno Aquino III.

Surely by now, many Filipinos have already noticed that PNoy doesn't display the Philippine Flag on his polo barong. What he proudly displays is the Yellow Ribbon, which many of us wore when we waited for the return of his father, the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. but was gunned down at the NAIA. But that was on Aug.,1983. When Pres. Aquino assumed the presidency on July 30, 2010 he proudly wore the Yellow Ribbon instead of the Philippine Flag. He is the first and only president who never wears the Philippine Flag, which to my mind is contemptuous.

Let me point out that the yellow ribbon is an international sign of welcome to a long lost person who may have been considered missing in action and finally returned or a kidnapped person who was finally returned to his family. The yellow ribbon is not the logo of a political party here or abroad, so why does Pres. Aquino insist on wearing this yellow pin?

PNoy's supporters sport yellow ribbons and stickers in their cars as if PNoy was a missing person. Mind you, the yellow ribbon is also not a symbol of the Philippine government or its agencies. So please, tell those yellow propagandists in Malacañang to exhort Pres. Aquino to remove that offensive yellow ribbon and change it with the Philippine Flag.

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How time flies indeed. If you have already forgotten, exactly two years and a day ago, history was made when the first ever sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was convicted by 20 senators with 3 senators voting against a conviction. His crime? For misreporting his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth which as Teddy Boy Locsin said, he could still have corrected it. In fact, Butch Abad immediately corrected his SALN after this incident.

But then that was two years ago when Pres. Benigno Aquino III seemed invincible and the political elite genuflected before him. Fast forward to present time and you will see a beleaguered Pres. Aquino who most probably continues to pressure the Supreme Court not to release its ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program  which is a creation of DBM Sec. Butch Abad, where monies from the savings of the national treasury are realigned for various projects without the benefit of a hearing from the Senate or Congress which enacts laws for budgeting purposes.

Pundits already got a copy of the releases for the respective pork barrels for the senators, and if you checked the dates, they were released just a few days prior to CJ Corona's conviction. Now the Corona Karma has hounded the Senate. The great majority of those senators who voted to convict CJ Corona are starring in the affidavit of Janet Lim Napoles and I reckon that today we'd be seeing the list coming from Ben-Hur Luy.  The problem now is that these crooks who steal public funds are taking advantage of the Filipino people's passive attitude even if we are seeing evidence linking these politicos to the pork scam. We should march in the streets!

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