Delusion or fear of prison?

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas

We really shouldn’t even be discussing this. The 1987 Constitution, also known as the Cory Constitution, clearly states that the President can only serve one six-year term with no reelection. And yet, amid the gigantic problems that the country faces, Malacanang continues to encourage moves to amend the Constitution so that President Aquino could run for another term.

In a speech during a gathering of Liberal Party leaders last month, Aquino said he had been told “the surest way to secure the straight and righteous path is if I myself continue leading the country.”

“There are those who say that the best way to ensure that the straight path will continue is if I myself stay on as President. I cannot just ignore these suggestions of people with open minds and who have a sincere desire to promote the common good,” he said.

The last time I heard this line was when then First Lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos, said she had to accept the position of governor of Metro Manila because the people clamored for it and that she could not just ignore the people’s wish.

Just when the issue was beginning to die down, Aquino revived the issue in a speech before the Filipino community in Brussels, Belgium. He said he believes there is still time to amend the Constitution and lift term limits if and when he decides to seek a fresh mandate.

I can see only two plausible reasons why Aquino is still considering a second term despite the recent Pulse Asia Survey that at least 62 percent of Filipinos do want him to run for a second term even if the Constitution is amended. Either he is having delusions of grandeur or he is afraid of being jailed after his term for illegally dispensing billions of pesos of the people’s money without congressional authorization under his Disbursement Acceleration Fund (DAP) that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Aquino must really think that he is God’s gift to the Filipino people and that he is the only one who can deliver the impoverished Filipino people from poverty and corruption through his “daang matuwid.” How else can you explain his insistence that “the surest way to secure the straight and righteous path is if I myself continue leading the country.”

How can Local Governments Secretary Mar Roxas and the other leaders of the Liberal Party accept that they are not at par with Aquino as far as leading the “straight path” is concerned?

Aquino’s claim that he is the only one capable of leading the nation on the straight path is simply ridiculous, if not laughable. I really can’t see where that claim is coming from considering that the country has been reeling from several corruption scandals in the last year or so. And amid all the corruption allegations against his close advisers and allies, all he had done is defend them and insist that they continue to enjoy his trust and confidence. None of them has been dismissed or suspended, nor subjected to a serious and thorough investigation.

Aquino’s claim also runs counter to a call by the National Transformation Council for Aquino to resign as he had lost the moral ascendancy to lead the nation. The group, led by Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, alleged that the President had violated the Constitution by corrupting Congress, intimidating the judiciary, taking over the Treasury, and perverting the impeachment process.

The move to allow Aquino to run for a second term started being floated a few weeks after the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional Aquino’s own pork barrel program, the DAP. It could be coincidental, but the fact remains that while a sitting President cannot be prosecuted because of presidential immunity, he can be made responsible for illegal activities after his his term.

Malacanang strategists first floated the idea of supporting Vice President Jejomar Binay as guest candidate obviously with the thought that Binay was a sure winner and his closeness to the Aquino family and the support to be given by Malacanang would prevent him from doing what Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did to their predecessors.

But when Binay’s bubble started bursting with the revival of corruption charges against him and his wife, and the subsequent Senate investigation into his alleged unexplained wealth and overpriced projects, Aquino then started floating the idea of a second term.

Aquino remains coy about the possibility of a second term, but continues to say that he would have to listen to his “bosses” – the people – if they really wanted him to continue his straight path legacy.
The “bosses” spoke through the Pulse Asia survey and overwhelmingly told him enough already, let’s give others a chance. But Aquino and his allies would have none of it.

The day after the survey results surfaced, Malacañang appeared not ready to put the issue to rest, saying it’s the voice of the people that should ultimately matter.
“Isn’t it the responsibility of the President to respond to the voices and sentiments of the people that he serves?” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said.
Precisely, Sonny! The people have spoken and have overwhelmingly rejected your own boss’ self-serving idea. What else do you need to tell your boss “enough already”?
When will Aquino finally respect the Constitution and follow what it clearly states: that the President can only serve one six-year term? He has previously shown a lack of respect for the rule of law by repeatedly protesting the Supreme Court’s decisions that were not to his liking, like the rulings on Hacienda Luisita ruling, midnight appointments, the PDAF and the DAP.

Why can’t he just focus on his last one and half years, and hopefully still be able to improve the people’s lives and curb corruption as he had promised? Why can’t he just prepare the country for the Asean economic integration in 2016, for which economic experts are one in saying that the Philippines is not ready yet?

Even Speaker Sonny Belmonte, his ally and vice chair of the Liberal Party, is getting impatient with Aquino’s coy attitude towards a second term.

“I believe it is best for the President to categorically state his position [as to whether he is running or not running in 2016],” Belmonte said, stressing that the President’s ‘bosses’ deserve an honest, straightforward and categorical answer from the President.

Belmonte, who is spearheading the effort in Congress to amend the economic provisions in Constitution, agreed to political observers that the flip-flopping statement of the President about his wish to seek reelection in 2016 is not helping to stabilize the political situation in the country.

If the President is not running, Belmonte said, he and his subalterns then should and could better focus on what the government could do in the last two years of his administration.

At this time, only Belmonte seems to be making sense in Aquino’s administration. Doesn’t Aquino think Belmonte can continue his “straight path” policy? I think he can, maybe even better.

(valabelgas@aol.com)