MACHIAVELLIAN

By REY O. ARCILLA  
Malaya

(Noynoy should stop his Machiavellian ways of pitting the competing groups in his camp – the Balay (Roxas) and the Samar (Ochoa) – against each other to serve his, and not the people’s, interest.)

Nowadays, whenever I hear or read President Noynoy Aquino saying “kayo ang boss ko”, referring to the Filipino people, I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Masyado nang plastik! He should stop saying it. It is obvious he doesn’t mean it at all!

I am also sick and tired of hearing or reading about Noynoy not being corrupt.

Personally, maybe, but when a leader keeps harboring and tolerating inept and corrupt individuals in his official family, he is no less inept and corrupt than they are! That, Noynoy is!

And when Noynoy says he is not interested in a term extension, but in the same breath says he will listen to his bosses, he is engaging in what the New York Times calls “political mischief”.

And when the New York Times starts criticizing the leader of this country in particular, that is bad news! It means he has lost the support of the American economic and political establishments! (Already, Robert Wang, US senior official for APEC, said China and the US see corruption as a “big” and “pervasive” problem in the Philippines (and other Pacific Rim countries) hindering economic exchanges, free trade and development in the region.)

And so, Noynoy had better decide once and for all whether he will continue with his flip-flopping and wishy-washy ways or embark on a single-minded approach towards making good on his promises to his bosses four years ago. He should also stop his Machiavellian ways of pitting the competing groups in his camp – the Balay (Roxas) and the Samar (Ochoa) – against each other to serve his, and not the people’s, interest.

In this regard, I believe what I wrote last week bears repeating, to wit:

1) Fire the erring and incompetent members of his cabinet namely, in alphabetical order, Abad, Abaya, Alcala, Del Rosario, Deles, Lacierda, Ochoa, Paje, Petilla, Roxas and Soliman. Heads of GOCCs who do not deserve to remain in office, like Robert “Pretty Boy” Vergara of GSIS, allegedly a Kaklase, should be booted out too.

2) Go after everyone, his relatives, friends and political allies included, who are implicated in the pork barrel scam or other anomalies.

3) Wield all the powers of the presidency to expedite the resolution of pending cases such as the Maguindanao massacre involving the Ampatuan family, and those of the desaparecidos like Jonas Burgos.

4) Make sure there will be no power and water shortages till the end of his term, preferably beyond. Failure to do so will infuriate his bosses. It will also be bad for the economy.

5) Craft a foreign policy that is less dependent on the US and is more realistic and pragmatic in its approach towards our relations with China, with only the national interest uppermost in his mind.

On hindsight, I would like to add the following:

6) Stop bashing the Supreme Court. It’s childish and foolish. He should not forget the high tribunal will still be around when he steps down from the presidency in July 2016!

******

With regard to Item 5 above, I hope it has not escaped the attention of Noynoy and his Super Amboy of a foreign secretary, Albert del Rosario, that China and Vietnam have declared their commitment to negotiate their territorial dispute in the South China Sea (SCS).

The agreement came after talks in Beijing last week between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese special envoy Le Hong Anh.

It will be recalled that tensions between the two countries spiked when China placed an oil rig in an area in the SCS claimed by both. After Vietnam protested vigorously and stood her ground, the oil rig was removed by China. Soon after, a high ranking Chinese official went to Hanoi to talk things over.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said that the two sides will work toward a durable and mutually acceptable solution to the territorial dispute.
As I have been advocating, we should not be averse to talking with the Chinese. Unfortunately, informed sources say that China would rather wait until we have a different foreign secretary, who happens to have the ear of Noynoy, courtesy of Washington, before they would sit down with us… a foreign secretary who has a great liking for “Smiley” that he had a giant one placed right at the front entrance of the DFA (see photo). Ang baduy!!! I wonder how our professional diplomats look at the juvenile aberration.

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So now, Noynoy is blaming the leftists for his woes. Yet, he has among his coterie several known leftists who are members of the Akbayan Party, foremost among whom is his political adviser, Ronald Llamas, a Kabarilan, who was once caught on camera buying pirated DVDs.
Who will our chief executive blame next – the Chinese, the Russians, the North Koreans? Or the Cambodians, the Laotians, the Vietnamese? I wish he would get real for once. His present woes are of his own making – rising unemployment, increase in the price of consumer products, rampant criminality, among others. Above all, his pigheaded insistence on keeping the much-hated pork barrel.

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Reminders (for Noynoy):

1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency. That was four long years ago.

(Ironically, one of the biggest scandals to hit Noynoy’s administration is the alleged corruption in the NFA and the pork barrel scam in the Department of Agriculture headed by Proceso Alcala who is still sticking like a leech to his post notwithstanding the appointment of former senator Francis “Mr. Noted” Pangilinan as his virtual replacement. Noynoy’s first appointee to head the NFA, Lito Banayo, has been charged, along with others, for alleged graft and corruption during his tenure in the agency. Banayo’s successor, Orlan Calayag is now under investigation for allegedly granting a P1.08-billion rice cargo-handling contract to a trucking company without a bidding being conducted. That’s not all… Calayag, who resigned earlier, had been replaced by Arthur Juan who, in turn, is now accused of extortion by rice trader Jomerito Soliman. NFA accursed?)

2) Investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and order his successor, Robert “Pretty Boy” Vergara, to file the proper charges, if warranted, against the former.

Noynoy should also order Vergara to report to him on COA’s findings that:

(a) He received the obscenely excessive compensation of P16.36 million in 2012 making him the highest paid government servant then. The latest COA report also has Vergara as the highest paid for 2013 with P12.09 million; and

(b) That over a year ago, at least P4.13 billion in contributions and loan payments made by 12 government offices to the GSIS had not been credited to the offices as of Dec. 31, 2011.

COA also said at the time that the amount of unrecorded remittances could go much higher because only 36 agencies have so far responded out of the 186 that were sent confirmation requests by government auditors. Of the 36, 27 confirmed “discrepancies” in their premium and loan payments ledgers when compared with those of the GSIS.

There are three questions being raised when remittances, or parts thereof, of government agencies are not recorded by the GSIS on time: a) Where are these huge sums “parked” in the meantime?; b) Do they earn interest?; and c) To where (whom?) does the interest, if any, go?

Pray tell, Mr. Vergara, what is the present status of these funds, including those that may have been remitted since and not yet recorded by the GSIS? How long do you think you can “dedma” these questions?

I believe it is time for COA to follow up on what Vergara has done on the above findings so that affected GSIS members would know the status of their contributions!

In this connection, I would like to address this question to Mesdames Grace Pulido Tan and Heidi Mendoza of COA: “Is GSIS head Robert “Pretty Boy” Vergara one of the sacred cows in Noynoy’s coterie whom you are afraid to investigate?”

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Today is the 130th day of the eighth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.
Eighteen weeks ago, Jonas’ mother, Edita, reminded Noynoy in a letter of his promise to conduct a “dedicated and exhaustive investigation” on her son’s enforced disappearance.
“Our hope was anchored on your promise to do what you could ‘on the basis of evidence’ when I personally pleaded for your help. This was almost four years ago, May 2010,” she wrote.
Mr. President, Sir?
******
From an internet friend:
An elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The couple had married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired. Holding hands, they walked back to their old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they’d shared, where Andy had carved “I love you, Sally.”

On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an armored car, practically landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and, not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money – fifty thousand dollars!

Andy said, “We’ve got to give it back.”

Sally said, “Finders keepers.” She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.

The next day, two police officers were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money, and knocked on their door. “Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?”

Sally said, “No.”

Andy said, “She’s lying. She hid it up in the attic.”

Sally said, “Don’t believe him, he’s getting senile.”

The agents turned to Andy and began to question him.

One said: “Tell us the story from the beginning.”

Andy said, “Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday…”

The first police officer turned to his partner and said, “We’re outta here!”

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2 September 2014

Email: roacrosshairs@outlook.com
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