Good cop, bad cop

by Rey O. Arcilla
from MALAYA

MS. Gloria Arroyo’s chief mouthpiece said his boss resorts to prayer to deal with her dismally low approval and trust ratings and to shield herself from all the criticisms that come her way.

That’s okay, but I think the better tack would be for her to constantly pray for divine guidance in doing what is right for the people she is supposed to serve. That way, she would not have the need to ask the Almighty for the first.

For instance, she could start by coming clean on her Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and urging her two sons to do the same.

By doing so, she will also be setting a good example for all officials and employees of the three branches of government, including the military and police establishments. Hopefully, the private sector will thereafter refrain from offering bribes to public officials in the pursuit of their business interests.

A pipe dream? Perhaps. But we can always resort to prayer as well.

***

It looks like the Noynoy Aquino bandwagon is gathering steam. With his looming presidential candidacy, several opposition leaders have decided to drop their own bids and instead support his. Even former President Joseph Estrada who feels he is strong enough to win, has indicated readiness to rally behind Noynoy if there emerges a consensus that the latter would be the lone opposition candidate.

Estrada’s spokesman said: “We hope that other presidential candidates could also follow the example of Senator Mar Roxas and be willing to give way, not only for the sake of unity within their parties but for the sake of unity for the entire opposition. Former President Estrada has always maintained that his dream is for the Opposition to unite in order to field only one standard bearer in 2010 to ensure the victory of the Opposition.”

But wouldn’t it be great if he himself did a Roxas and supported Noynoy?
Of the “viable” candidates, only Senator Manuel Villar who, many suspect, is actually Arroyo’s “anointed” has not said anything about Noynoy’s almost certain run. (His spokesman said over the weekend he is not quitting the race.) If he doesn’t see it fit to back Noynoy, Estrada will most likely insist on running because, as he had said time and again, there is a 99.9 percent chance he will run if there is no lone opposition standard bearer.

***

There have been news reports about the incumbent Philippine consul general in Osaka, Japan. The first one said the Ombudsman has indicted her for alleged misdeclaration of her educational qualifications and subsequently lodged a case before the Sandiganbayan.

The more recent one said the Sandiganbayan has ordered her arrest but granted her bail of P24,000.

On both occasions, the DFA did not issue a statement on the case. I was told it was not informed by either the Ombudsman or the Sandiganbayan of their actions and that the Sandiganbayan hasn’t asked the DFA to serve the arrest warrant. (Another highly placed DFA source said he had information that the Sandiganbayan arrest warrant wasn’t true.)

Shouldn’t the DFA have asked both bodies for confirmation of the reports?
It also appears that the DFA had not asked the consul general for her side of the story.

I find that strange. Is the DFA trying to protect her? I don’t see how by remaining silent on the issue. On the contrary, it is doing the consul general a great disservice. She should be given a chance to explain her side publicly.

If the contents of the news reports are true, what does the law say about action that must be taken by the DFA against the accused?

***

Senator Miriam Santiago, wherefore art thou? How come the honorable senator has become virtually invisible after making such a big show of the hearing she conducted recently on the continued presence of US troops in Mindanao?

She said she was for the abrogation or re-negotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US and that she will seek the support of her other Senate colleagues. Can we expect to hear from her soon? I have my doubts.
In the meantime, Santiago’s patroness, Ms. Arroyo, came out in defense of the presence of US troops in Mindanao. Does it mean Santiago has already complied with her assigned task of playing the role of “bad cop” in a “good cop, bad cop” game?

Incidentally, what could be the real purpose of DND chief Gilberto Teodoro’s trip to Washington?

***

Whatever happened to the promised investigation on the death and mutilation of 23 Marines after an encounter with elements of the MILF in Basilan recently?

A retired top military officer told me that if nothing comes out of the investigation as to who was responsible for the debacle, it would mean the beginning of the end of command responsibility in the Armed Forces.

***

Speaking of command responsibility, a rarity in Arroyo’s regime, the GSIS Board of Trustees has dismissed the senior vice president of the Information Technology Services Group due to “dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.” He allegedly entered into multi-million peso contracts with Questronix Corp. and IBM Philippines without authority.

I cannot believe that a senior vice president would enter into such big ticket deals without the knowledge or consent of his immediate superior, the GSIS head himself. But even if he did, isn’t his boss liable as well under the principle of command responsibility?

***

About five months ago, I wrote about the plight of GSIS old-age pensioner Virginia Sta. Rosa Reyes (ID #PB01204212) who has not received her pension for a long time now. Reyes is 87 years old and frail in health. Her son-in-law (anluwage@aol.com) now writes:

“Thank you very much for the ‘space’ in your column regarding my mother-in-law’s predicament on her GSIS retirement benefit about five months ago. I believe your column caused the GSIS to process her Ecard which we received on July 3, 2009. We were instructed to set up an appointment through the Skype Video Cam to activate the Ecard. We emailed them (pensionglobal@gsis.gov.ph) at least twice regarding this but to no avail, no response from GSIS. It seemed like we were being ignored and it felt like ‘pulling a tooth from a lion’ as we have never received any acknowledgment regarding our email to set up the Skype appointment to activate the useless Ecard. Hopefully, through your column, GSIS will activate it.”

***

Another GSIS retiree, Ambassador Ruperto Dizon, also writes:
“More than a year ago, I sent you an e-mail giving a backgrounder of GSIS monetary claims pending since August 2005, as follows:

“1. When I retired at age 65 on 27 March 2005, I opted for a 5-year lump sum payment. GSIS paid me the 5-year lump sum but for a lower monthly salary credit and a lower creditable service credit as explained in Item 2 (c) and (d) below.

“2. Records with the GSIS will show that I have several complaints and claims (pending since August 2005, and reiterated since late 2007). They consist of:

(a) Some GSIS dividends during my posting as Ambassador to Jordan in 1998 to 2005…. still outstanding.

(b) Reimbursement of “excess installment payment of salary loans,” with a certification issued by the DFA Chief Accountant to that effect.

(c) Reimbursement of so-called “premiums in arrears” covering a period of almost two years, matter that has to be settled between the employer DFA and the GSIS…

(d) Related to item c, above, adjustment of my “creditable service” from the 28 years (as erroneously adjudicated by GSIS owing to so called “premiums in arrears”) to 31 years and 3 months corresponding to my actual DFA service/GSIS membership from December 16, 1974 to March 27, 2005.

This will involve (a) re-calculating my 5-year lump sum payment based on a higher percentage entitlement of highest/last salary received and payment to me of resulting differentials; and (b) corresponding recalculation/upward adjustment/correction of the amount of my monthly pension for life beginning March 28, 2010….”

Paging GSIS head Winston Garcia once again. Please recall that it was you yourself who initiated this Skype system. Kindly see to it that it works.

***

There are 295 days left before the end on 30 June 2010 of the stolen presidency of Ms. Arroyo, courtesy of “Garci”, et al.

Today is the 126th day of the third year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

Email address: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com