ZTE-NBN deal---another Square Off?

Tuesday will go down in history as the greatest monumental square-off between former family friends, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and ZTE-NBN whistleblower Joey de Venecia III. Senator Richard Gordon has sent word that he invited the First gentleman and the DOTC officials led by Secretary Leandro Mendoza to attend this Tuesday's Senate Blue ribbon committee hearing. Gordon believes that before he even releases his findings, there should be another hearing to "clear some cobwebs" so to speak, about the real story behind the "greatest graft scandal" ever to hit this country in so many years.





For me, the square off is clearly not necessary for one obvious reason---there are hours and hours worth of testimonies in past ZTE-NBN hearings and those are more than enough to fill a 100 page report. But, no. Senator Gordon wants to hammer out the message of the Office of the Ombusman--that the First Family is not involved in this anomalous deal.

Joey welcomes the chance to face the First Gentleman, confident that he committed no crime. In a statement, Joey said that Gordon committed a grave infraction when he inadvertently announced his initial opinion, saying that the Ombusman should have included the De Venecias in the charge sheet. If Gordon thinks that the De Venecias are guilty, then, why another hearing? Is'nt strange that the Senate blue ribbon needs another day to what? To hammer out a favorable public impression and clean the tarnished name of his amigo, the First Gentleman and his amiga, Gloria Arroyo?

Obviously, Gordon wants to do a Pontius Pilate before he runs for re-election because he knows that his handling of this case would haunt him during election time. He already whitewashed the Joc-Joc Bolante case and because of proper PR handling, there was no public outrage that came out shortly when he released the recommendations. That Joc-Joc Bolante case was a "test case" so to speak, and provided pro-administration senators like Gordon a template to manage sensitive issues like this ZTE-NBN deal.

And that is a problem for whistleblowers Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada---this administration has now perfected the art of the whitewash. If they mishandle the public relations aspect of this case, they're in for a shock of their lives because they'll be pictured as villains and false heroes instead of Patriots. Gordon and the rest of the First Gentleman's team are exploiting the lingering thought in the public sphere that this deal is about "onsehan" and these whistleblowers were motivated not by love of country but by the very thought of losing a great deal of money.

This thought has permeated even in the inner circles of power and those dinky coffee shops in hotels and places in the Metropolis. A year has passed and the public is now ready to accept new facts about this case. If Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada mishandle this, they'll surely come out of this as pseudo-patriots and liars. And the public hates liars.

Joey is confident that he did nothing wrong and the public believes him. There are more than enough evidence to pin the First Family in this ZTE-NBN deal, more than, say the circumstantial evidence that the Office of the Ombusman has against Benjamin Abalos and Romulo Neri. The fact that photos caught the First Couple playing golf and eating oysters with ZTE officials and those text messages Gloria sent to Neri, ordering him to just accept the money and approve the deal are more than enough to include them in the graft charge sheet.

Yet, Gordon hopes that if he plays his cards right, he'll be able to convince the public that these pieces of evidence amounts to nothing, shows nothing and mean nothing. Of course, Gordon embarked on a charm offensive with his tearful outbursts in those kidnapping episodes and those guestings as presidentiable. Yet, behind those charming charades lie a dastardly plan to hide his role as the palace's self-appointed Mr. Clean. Beneath those cheesy smiles and pink-colored cheeks hides an insidious mind ready to follow the wishes and caprices of his principals.

And for what? To get that anointment from Mrs. Arroyo and be part of that 10 billion election campaign kitty? To snatch that nomination from Vice President Noli de Castro or at the least, that vice presidential post from Ronnie Puno?

Or maybe, just maybe, add some more funds for a re-election bid? Or, again chair the revival of Subic as a US military facility?

Whatever it is, expect History to again be on the side of the devil enfant. :-)

Arroyo fighting the demons of 2004

Ninety one per­cent of Fil­ipinos say Mrs. Arroyo failed in address­ing graft and cor­rup­tion, accord­ing to a Philip­pine Daily Inquirer report. Arroyo’s high­est marks were on deliv­ery of pub­lic ser­vices, which, accord­ing to the Inquirer, 14.4% agreed. The rest were all fail­ing marks.

This is a clas­sic exam­ple of how democ­racy func­tions, espe­cially in a frag­mented soci­ety such as ours. Peo­ple would def­i­nitely be not sat­is­fied with your per­for­mance as a pub­lic ser­vant, espe­cially if you got the pres­i­dency in the most slim of margins.

And expect that to be the fore­most rates that any pres­i­den­tiable would get once he wins come May 2010. A minor­ity pres­i­dent would always get fail­ing marks pre­cisely because major­ity of the vot­ers did not elect him.

Now, if you say that Fidel V. Ramos is an excep­tion, prob­a­bly you’re cor­rect. Ramos is a per­former and a vision­ary. He’s an effec­tive man­ager, a direc­tor of sorts, on how best to gov­ern this coun­try. He had an expe­ri­ence dur­ing the admin­is­tra­tion of mar­tial law. And he’s a West Pointer, trained on the best man­age­ment tech­nolo­gies and skills. He’s, at best, an aberration.

If Mrs. Arroyo expects to get rousing marks for all these things she is doing now, asa pa. She will never get the praise of people, since, from the very start, she was not able to get them anyway.

Her economic adviser Governor Salceda is right---had not 2004 happened, and the Arroyo administration successfully established its integrity and political legitimacy, this government would definitely not find itself mired in the unpopularity game.

Suffice it to say that it was actually a function of the Office of the Press Secretary to do this. And expectedly, the OPS would probably fail also since it faces a formidable force--the combined strength of former Arroyo allies and the political opposition.

Now, is it too late for Gloria to gather her own constituency that would be her protectors once she leaves office in June 2010? No.

The challenge for Mrs. Arroyo is simply do the right moves. First, prosecute graft offenders like Joc-Joc Bolante. Second, sign that executive order on Cheaper Medicines Law. Third, make examples of erring government officials. Fourth, be more visible. And fifth, avoid being combative and just stick to the job at hand---ensuring that government is prepared for the next administration.

No-El in 2010

Let's study and analyze these past political events, shall we?

Former defense secretary Avelino Nonong Cruz believes Mrs. Arroyo would not allow the elections to push thru. Cruz, former legal counsel of Mrs. Arroyo, knows his ex-client very well. They used to share food together. He knows how Mrs. Arroyo thinks. And he knows that these events i.e., bombings, pockets of instability, etc. are all geared for one thing--derail the 2010 elections.

Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita castigated Nonong for saying that. Ermita said Cruz's statement was uncalled for, since it has no basis. I don't agree with Ermita, a Batangueno and who loves drinking barako. You don't need concrete facts to assert a truth. You only need to connect the dots and ask yourself who'll benefit from all these instabilities. And you'll definitely come to the conclusion that, indeed, Arroyo and her ilk may have a hand in these things.

Cruz is a student of history, Ermita is not. Cruz knows how a former dictator did it, and surely, Ermita also knew about that. Ermita is playing naive when he defended his boss by saying that she already announced that elections would push thru as planned in 2010. We all know the expertise of Mrs. Arroyo---she's very effective in word plays. She did that in 2003. She repeated it in many instances, like 2004, 2005 and 2006. The boob job issue is also one classic example.

Now, what would Cruz gain from exposing the nefarious plan of his former boss? Nothing really. If Malacanang claims that Cruz is only protecting his client right now (I know who he is but I'm not saying it here), then, why say that they'll be no elections? Wala namang makukuhang benepisyo si Cruz o ang kanyang kliyenteng presidentiable kung sabihin nilang walang eleksyon sa 2010 ah?

Ito ang problema if walang kategorikal na sinasabi si Mrs. Arroyo sa mga political plans niya come 2010. And problems like these also occur when the head of state refuses to say that she'll hand power over to her duly-elected successor come June 30, 2010. Had she told us that she'll be stepping down from power, then, people, as suspicious as Nonong would not have to spread such things like these, di ba?