Ominous

by Rey O. Arcilla
from MALAYA

‘Peace panel head admits MILF draft agreement will require “major constitutional changes.”’

NEW Press Secretary Cris Icban Jr. likened his new boss, Ms. Gloria Arroyo, to President Ferdinand Marcos.

First (and last?) faux pas?

Further, I sayeth none.

***

A government spokesman who is both a Filipino and American citizen?! Geeez!

Even a nitwit would know that is wrong. And Ms. Gloria Arroyo is supposed to be an intelligent person?!

I hope junior mouthpiece Gary Olivar doesn’t get cockeyed trying to determine where Philippine interests begin and where American interests end.

Given the so-called “special relations” between the two countries, distinguishing Philippine interests from those of the Americans’ has always been problematical to our past and present set of leaders.

***

Itinerant future ex-Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo returned from Washington early yesterday morning. He was at the US capital for reasons that could have been delegated to our ambassador there.

DFA insiders themselves say “gumagawa lang ng biyahe.” If that is the case, Romulo should really try to resist his constant urge to get on board a plane unless it is absolutely necessary. (Surely, he must be aware of Murphy’s Law.) He would be saving poor Juan de la Cruz tens of thousands of pesos spent on his plane fare, hotel accommodation and the so-called commutable representation allowance which may range between $1,000 (P46,000) to $3,500 (P165,000), depending on the nature and extent of the trip.

Interestingly, Romulo’s trip coincided with the confirmation process of the incoming US ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. Was he, by any chance, sent by Ms. Arroyo or, worse, “summoned” by the State Department to brief Thomas on what’s going on here, in particular with the forthcoming elections?

There are unverified reports that Romulo used to have weekly breakfast meetings with Thomas’ predecessor, Kristie Kenney. I hope Romulo did not have breakfast with Thomas. That would be most unbecoming.

***

I also hope Romulo’s trip had nothing to do with the reported MILF statement that the government “had nothing new to offer” in its draft agreement submitted through facilitator Malaysia. It reportedly led the rebel group to discontinue the latest round of negotiations. (Another report said the two panels will meet in Kuala Lumpur February 18-19.)

It is common knowledge that the US is keenly interested in having the peace talks concluded as soon as possible. The Americans were directly involved in the forging of the Supreme Court-rejected MOA-AD on the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity. Former US Ambassador Kenney and her deputies had been talking directly with MILF leaders, with the knowledge and consent of Arroyo, Romulo and peace panel head DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis. Treasonous…

***

At a meeting in Camp Aguinaldo late last week, Seguis reportedly revealed that the MILF draft agreement will require “major constitutional changes” for it to be implemented. He allegedly also said that the government draft was open to amending the Charter, although he said the amendments relate only to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Has the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) already agreed to such a Charter amendment? I doubt it. Gulo na naman ‘yan!

Seguis reportedly also admitted that the MILF kept repeating the Supreme Court-rejected MOA-AD on the creation of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity in its draft. So why is the panel even entertaining it?

“As you know, the MOA-AD has been decided upon by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional but we can (go) around that language by reengineering it. We are not very vigil (sic) about it but we just like to avoid mentioning that initialled MOA-AD in any draft because that would put us in trouble again in the Supreme Court,” Seguis said.

“Re-engineering” the language of the unconstitutional MOA-AD?!
Ominous.

***

Taking the cue from Ms. Arroyo, some cabinet members are now preoccupied with trying to leave a legacy in their departments. Future ex-Foreign Secretary Romulo is one of them.

Introducing structural reforms in the DFA would be welcome. An interdependent world has taken its toll on the capacity of the DFA to cope with the ever-increasing responsibilities and workload. The proposed changes will, in general, help resolve the problem.

However, one of the major changes being introduced, i.e., the creation of the post of five undersecretaries is, in my view, unnecessary. Aside from the fact that that would be against the pertinent provision of R.A. 7157 (Foreign Service Act) which prescribes only three undersecretaries, it would also cost more money. (I am informed that a draft executive order had already been prepared for signature by Arroyo. But can an executive order revise an existing legislated statute?) In my view, it would be better instead to have just one deputy secretary and increase the number of assistant secretaries to spread out the work. The deputy secretary should always be a career officer. He would be like the Permanent Secretary of most foreign ministries, a fine example of which would be the United Kingdom and Japan.

***

An administrative case was filed last year by the head of the health insurance provider for the DFA personnel against a foreign service officer for an alleged extortion attempt of P3 million. The officer was then a Special Assistant in the office of the Undersecretary for Administration (Usec-Admin) who is also chairman of the Board of Foreign Service Administration (BFSA).

Instead of being taken up in the BFSA, in accordance with the guidelines approved by the Usec-Admin himself for such complaints, a criminal case was filed with the Ombudsman against the officer.

When I asked the Usec-Admin why the administrative case was not taken up by the BFSA, he said: “It is our opinion that Ombudsman action/decision is prejudicial to administrative case.”

Now, that is strange. To begin with, the administrative complaint should have been taken up in the BFSA where it was filed first. And should the BFSA find there is basis to file a criminal complaint against the officer, then and only then should it have been brought to the Ombudsman.

The complainant, quite rightly, insists that the administrative case he filed against the officer ought to be heard by the BFSA. And if found guilty, he should be administratively punished. The law allows both administrative and criminal cases against an erring employee to be heard at the same time.
I asked the Usec-Admin what action was taken against the officer. He said he had him transferred to the DFA Office of Policy Planning. That’s it?
It is obvious that the Usec-Admin is merely trying to protect the respondent (the Ombudsman takes forever to decide on cases) or, worse, he does not want the office he heads dragged into the case. As the boss, he cannot escape responsibility for the actions of his subordinates.

***

Text message of the week, the veracity of which I do not guarantee: “Now the cat’s out of the bag… Manny Villar is the secret candidate of GMA… Mike Arroyo himself met with Villar at the house of Mike Defensor last Jan. 7… Villar secretly agreed to make GMA as Speaker of the House and protect her should Villar win the presidency… Villar agreed to GMA’s offer of massive logistical support in GMA’s commissioners in the Comelec who will assure Villar’s victory… Pls pass para di tayo maloko uli.”Ruling party presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro should forthwith try to verify the content of the message. If he doesn’t, it would only prove what I have been saying all along – he may have “galing at talino” but he definitely is naïve. He couldn’t or wouldn’t reconcile himself with the fact that his association with Arroyo, no matter how much he tries to distance himself from her or she from him, is a kiss of death.

***

There are 141 days left before the end on 30 June 2010 of the stolen presidency of Ms. Arroyo, courtesy of “Garci”, et al.

***

Today is the 280th day of the third year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

***

Email: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com