“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” — Abraham Lincoln
By Alex P. Vidal
If we think Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Chairman Rene Villa is embarrassed by latest report that he had professional links with jailed bogus NGO organizer Janet Lim-Napoles, we can be dead wrong.
Villa, who could not win a congressional seat as long as the Defensor father and son — Iloilo Gov. Arthur Sr. and Rep. Arthur “Toto” Jr. — are lording over the third district of Iloilo, must be enjoying the kind of publicity he has been reaping in the national media these past days.
Touted as one of the most brilliant Ilonggo lawyers to ever serve the cabinet during the time of President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; and now in the cabinet of President Nonoy Aquino, Villa’s admission that he once served as Napoles’ lawyer and financial adviser is not actually a mortal sin.
JAILED
Nobody gets jailed or stripped of his dignity for counseling a charlatan in the past. Nobody loses his job for waltzing with a Madame Bovary or a Lady Chatterley. Any politician worth his salt in Villa’s shoes today would prance around the paddock if given the same opportunity to expound his ties with a high profile inmate in national media.
The kind of publicity that Villa is enjoying in the Napoles l’affaire is the kind of publicity that most politicians want–and need!
Notwithstanding the eerie tag and freakish notoriety attached to her name, Napoles can still be considered now as a celebrity in her own right–and a national figure to boot.
To be linked to Napoles in a not-so-scandalous fashion isn’t outright kiss of death. It may a little bit dampen a public servant’s bid for an Order of Sikatuna award, but not his political career.
POPULARITY
In a country where popularity is convertible to elective government post, the more you are mentioned in media–and the controversy you are embroiled with is endlessly tackled in prime time and headline news, the more that your name-recall edge will be amplified and sharpened. Voters will easily remember you during election period whether you belong in the reel or real world.
It is easy to decipher if Villa detested the Napoles link publicity. If he refused to elaborate further, that means he was uncomfortable in the “hot seat” he was in. But if he was willing to talk and share willingly what he knew and in the mood to flash his brilliancy in the Q and A arena, you can bet he was in the joy ride.
SPEAKER
The late former House Speaker Jose M. Aldeguer (Nacionalista Party, Iloilo 5th district) would reportedly pay radio block time talents to lambast him on air. Aldeguer believed that if no one was attacking him as a public official, that means he was not doing his job; that means he was lousy and irrelevant.
The late former Senator and Iloilo City Mayor Rodolfo “Roding” T. Ganzon considered bad publicity and criticism as “good” if leveled against a politician.
“They (my political opponents and media) can say anything they want under the sun against me as a public servant. I will not complain. Basta indi lang sila mag alegar nga putyong ako because only my wife has the right to say that,” enthused Ganzon, the “Stormy Petrel of the South.”
Fans and admirers of Chairman Rene Villa should relax and enjoy the show.
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RELATED STORY:
Palace: LWUA chair lawyering for Napoles not an issue
By KIMBERLY JANE TAN
GMA News
GMA News
Malacañang on Wednesday shrugged off the revelation that Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) chair Rene Villa had served as the lawyer of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, saying this does not affect the President’s opinion about him.
In text messages to GMA News Online, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) head Herminio Coloma Jr. said he “doesn’t think” that President Benigno Aquino III’s opinion about Villa will change because of the revelation.
“He [Villa] is not implicated in any irregularity. It’s not an issue,” he said.
A report published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Villa as admitting Napoles was his client for four years when he was working in the private sector. But he said he advised her on “purely private financial matters, nothing on government or political matters.”
Asked if Aquino knew about this, Coloma said he doesn’t know but that the “President does not need detailed information on hundreds of nominees for appointment.”
Villa was appointed in 2011 to replace Prospero Pichay, who was dismissed as LWUA chair for the alleged misuse of the agency’s funds.
Villa was part of the “Hyatt 10″— group of 10 Cabinet and sub-Cabinet officials of the Gloria Arroyo administration—who officially withdrew their support from Arroyo at a meeting in the Hyatt Hotel in Manila in 2005, and joined groups that called for her ouster from office over the “Hello Garci” poll fraud scandal.
The other members of Hyatt 10 who are now with the Aquino administration are Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita “Ging” Deles. —KG, GMA News
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