PR gimmick, prime time TV won’t do it

ON DISTANT SHORE
By Val G. Abelgas 

(File Photo)

President Aquino must have really been piqued being called the “Pork Barrel King” because after critics gave him that title, he went on a series of speeches attacking his critics and defending again his misuse of both the congressional pork barrel, the Priority Development Assistance Fund, and his own pork funds, the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Aquino added a new twist to his defense of the PDAF and DAP by emphasizing that he was not a thief during a 15-minute speech on primetime television last week. “I am not a thief. I am the one who goes after thieves.”

He has become so defensive, which is a mark of the guilty, that he was insisting that he was not a thief when, in fact, I have yet to read or listen to anyone calling him a thief. Nobody ever said he was a thief, but one who condoned the crime of thievery in the halls of Congress and Malacanang, which makes him an accessory to theft anyway.

Nobody said he pocketed all those billions, but he gave away those billions, which have allegedly been pocketed by some lawmakers and unscrupulous businessmen. By allocating billions of pesos in PDAF and DAP funds, the legality of which still has to be ascertained by the Supreme Court, he allowed several lawmakers to allot them in ghost projects through fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs). And by increasing these questionable funds every year since he assumed office, he abetted the thievery.

There is only one way to appease the people – prove that the funds that he gave away to the lawmakers were indeed used to “stimulate economic growth” as he always said and that the people’s money did not go to the pockets of these lawmakers and their cohorts. He should have asked each congressman and senator who were beneficiaries of his generosity to account for every centavo of the funds before appearing on TV.

Were they spent to build classrooms, roads, bridges or irrigation canals that would “stimulate the economy”? How many kilometers of roads, classrooms, health centers, irrigation canals, etc. were built with the money? Where were these “economy-stimulating” projects launched? How much were spent for each project? How many were expected to benefit from them?

If indeed these funds were spent to “stimulate the economy,” “generate jobs” or “reduce poverty,” perhaps the people would be willing to forgive him even if the Supreme Court decides his disbursement of the PDAF and DAP funds were illegal. It is not enough to say that the funds were used to “stimulate economic growth” without specifying how they were spent and how they stimulated the growth of the economy.

Aquino thinks that the people, who gave him a landslide victory in 2010 on a promise that he would eliminate graft and corruption and eradicate poverty, would simply rely on his word as they did in 2010 and in the next two years.

The people have grown tired of promises, even from the only son of their revered heroes, former Sen. Ninoy Aquino and former President Cory Aquino. Aquino says the proof is in the fact that the economy has registered nearly 7% economic growth in the past several months. But was the growth really mainly because of those PDAF and DAP funds? Or was it because of other factors and in spite of the corruption that the pork barrel has generated? Perhaps, the growth would have been 8% or 9% if the pork funds were spent the way it was envisioned?

If it were true that the release of the pork barrel to the lawmakers was instrumental for the economic growth, why is the business sector calling for its abolition? And how come in recent surveys, 67% of the people said they have not seen any project done even in districts represented by congressmen who got pork barrel funds? If the people were benefiting from these funds, why are they calling for the abolition of the pork barrel?

In response to the President’s speech, a group of call center workers, who can rightfully claim having contributed to the economic growth, told the President “We are not stupid! We are angry, we are disgusted, and we will not allow this to pass.”

“The corruption that goes with the pork barrel system has hounded our country since the 1980s. The money that we pay as taxes is being compromised and the President has the gall to tell us that it is not being pocketed,” said the BPO Industry Employees Network, or BIEN, the umbrella group for workers in over 200 companies nationwide.

The Scrap Pork Network said that more pork barrel anomalies could happen unless the system was overhauled, but this could not be done if the President keeps on defending the system.

“We want the vulnerabilities not only plugged but a strong wall put in front of it. We want governance improved and that’s why we want the Pork Barrel System gone and the Freedom of Information Act (and other safeguards) in place. We can’t be experiencing this every few years because you are stubbornly defending keeping the Pork Barrel System in place,” it said.

Will the President listen to them? I don’t think so. He has become so arrogant he would not listen to anybody but himself. But we all know now that harsh criticisms and unfavorable surveys are beginning to get on his nerves. He has, in fact, reorganized his communications team following the series of negative surveys. And he has launched damage control activities in the hope of bringing back the trust of the people, such as the petty claim that he spent the night in tents to help the people in Bohol, even showing photos of him meeting with Cabinet and Bohol officials under a tent and showing him emerging from a tent in the morning.

The ruse was so shallow that if the people were surveyed on the tent gimmick, I’m sure his ratings would flunk down to zero!

President Aquino just doesn’t get it. The people want all forms of pork barrel abolished because if perpetuates corruption and patronage politics. The people want their money properly spent to improve their welfare and the economy, and not landing on some corrupt politicians’ pockets. The people want the Constitution followed strictly and that means no government funds must be spent without the legal and formal authority of Congress.

We don’t want our President to catch the cold because of a poorly advised public relations gimmick. We don’t want our President to be called the “Pork Barrel King.” We don’t want our President to preempt our favorite telenovela to defend a program that is indefensible, in the words of Law Dean Fr. Ranhilio Aquino.

All we want is our President to be true to his promise – to be the honest and sincere leader that will lead this country to the “daang matuwid” and to economic prosperity.

(valabelgas@aol.com)