Two weeks from now, President BS Aquino will be history. Many can hardly wait for him to go. He put the country in virtual paralysis because of his incompetence in providing even the most basic services to the people.
In my over 66 years as a journalist, I have never seen a president so inept, so vengeful and so lacking in compassion for the poor and the needy. So abusive of public funds, too, if I may add.
BS Aquino claimed in a television interview that his legacy is transforming the country from the sick man of Asia to the darling of Asia. I think this is meaningless. Poverty and unemployment continue to rise.
In another television interview, BS Aquino claimed he was “an agent of change.”
I say he simply maintained the status quo with his hypocritical “Daang Matuwid” mantra.
My gulay, I almost fell out of my chair when I heard him say this with a straight face. We all know the people repudiated his candidate precisely because the May 9 polls was a referendum of his six-year reign.
I have been asking myself: What legacy? The only things people can remember him for are his many mistakes, shortcomings and lies. That botched rescue operation during the August 2010 hostage crisis. The Disbursement Acceleration Program which he used to bribe Congress into doing what he wanted it to do. The Mamasapano massacre of police commandos.
And now, incoming Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano tells us that BS Aquino and Budget Secretary Butch Abad misused no less than P471 million of public funds, through the DAP, to pay for parcels of land at the Cojuangco-Aquino owned Hacienda Luisita.
Mariano said there is documentary evidence regarding the misuse of the DAP funds. The DAP had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Santa Banana, this is criminal and if only for this, Aquino and Abad could land in jail.
I think he will be remembered for being the worst president this country ever had.
* * *
There are those who think that incoming President Duterte should be given emergency powers to cope with the traffic crisis in Metro Manila and to address the Abu Sayyaf problem.
I don’t know what these emergency powers consist of, but to be given to Du30, who is perceived by many as having dictatorial tendencies, it could lead to abuse.
No doubt about it, Metro Manila’s traffic problem is a crisis. One has to negotiate Makati to Quezon City in more than two hours going and coming back. And there seems to be no solution, even after after Highway Patrol Group was assigned to maintain the traffic situation. Certainly not with more motor vehicles being sold every year, and certainly not with the kind of infrastructure we have. The crisis could only get worse every year, making Metro Manila one big parking lot.
So, what can be done? If the incoming President and the incoming secretary of transportation would only think out of the box, and use their imagination in consulting with experts, the traffic crisis can be solved.
With regard to the Abu Sayyaf problem, no emergency power of any kind can resolve it. Terrorism is a problem worldwide. It is both a police and military problem that can only be minimized since the Abus are a group of bandits specializing in kidnap for ransom. It can only be resolved by more military action in a zone controlled by the bandits themselves.
Du30 doesn’t need emergency powers. He will be the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines anyway.
* * *
The problem of so many business deals is that government tends to step in, with so many restrictions. This is precisely the problem of PLDT and Globe after they bought from San Miguel its telecommunications assets for P70 billion.
When Ramon Ang, San Miguel president and chief operating officer, failed to take Telstra of Australia to be its partner, PLDT and Globe got together to buy out San Miguel’s telco assets.
In other words, the main issue here is whether or not the deal would redound to public benefit.
Now comes the Philippine Competition Commission, claiming it has a duty to fight business monopoly. My gulay, now the PCC is threatening to impose fines on PLDT and Globe for allegedly not complying with the PCC rules and regulations.
This, even after PLDT and Globe insisted that the PCC has no power to block the transaction.
The truth of the matter is that PLDT and Globe have already submitted the necessary compliance papers to PCC pursuant to the government agency’s Memorandum Circular No. 16-002. The circular provides that before the implementing rules and regulations come into force, the transaction is deemed approved by the PCC and can no longer be challenged. Deficiency in form and substance of the notice are not grounds to prevent the transaction from being deemed approved.
What is happening in this deal which will actually redound to the benefit of the people is one thing that the incoming Duterte administration should address.
* * *
I’m giving the Du30 Cabinet a passing grade of 7.5 on a scale of one to 10, considering the fact that most of them are unknown.
The only appointees, to my mind, who are a credit to the incoming administration are businessman Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez for finance, Benjamin Diokno for budget and management, Leonor Briones for education, Silvestre Bello for labor,
Jesus Dureza for the peace process, and Jun Yasay for foreign affairs.
The choice of Du30 for the cabinet can only reflect how shallow the bench is for the incoming President who was never known to associate with people beyond the confines of Davao City. But the appointees can prove their worth over time.
Duterte, however, should replace spokesman Salvador Panelo, who has become more of an irritation to media. He needs to have a spokesman who can relate with media, not somebody who is already creating enemies for the incoming President this early.