PHNO-BLOG WATCH: FOR NOYNOY IS AN HONORABLE MAN...

BLOG WATCH: FOR NOYNOY IS AN HONORABLE
MAN...

BLOG WATCH, JUNE 1, 2012
(CRITICAL POINT BLOG)
by H. GAMBOA (photo) - The following message was inspired from
Mark Antony's speech (from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar) and modified to make it
apropos on the aftermath of the conviction of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona.


Friends, Filipinos, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Chief Justice Corona, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Corona. The noble Noynoy Aquino (through his spokesperson
Abigail Valte)
Hath told you Corona was the public face of the things that ail the system:

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Corona answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Noynoy and the rest (of the Yellow force)--
For Noynoy is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men--
Come I to speak in Corona's funeral.
He was our friend, faithful and just to us:
But Noynoy says he was the public face of the things that ail the system;

And Noynoy is an honorable man.
Corona's leadership hath brought Hacienda Luisita back to its rightful owners
– the peasant farmers
The social justice that has been deprived of the peasant farmers for more
than 45 years by Noynoy's family was dispensed under Corona's leadership:
Did this in Corona seem what ails the system?
When the people cried against the administration's toll fee rate hikes plan
for NLEX, SLEX and the Skyway, the Court under Corona's leadership initially
issued a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the hikes
giving the commuting public a temporary respite from financial burden. When the
Court lifted the TRO, it struck down provisions in the administration's plans
which were prejudicial to public interest:
The injustice that ails the system would not care about the plight of the
public yet it was not so under Corona's leadership:
Yet Noynoy says he was the public face of the things that ail the system;

And Noynoy is an honorable man.
You all did see that in Burgos vs Macapagal-Arroyo and in Roxas vs
Macapagal-Arroyo
The Court under Corona's leadership rejected the Philippine National Police's
and the Armed Forces of the Philippines' extraordinary diligence that the Rule
of Amparo required, thereby allowing the Commission on Human Rights to pursue
justice against abusive military personnel
The Court under Corona's leadership went against the military personnel who
were supposed to be part of Macapagal-Arroyo's abusive regime: was this
something that ails the system?
Yet Noynoy says Corona was the public face of the things that ail the system;

And, sure, he is an honorable man.
I speak not to disprove what Noynoy spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
There are people who appreciate Corona and the products under his leadership
even at one point in their lives, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Corona,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

So now let us ask the question, is Noynoy Aquino (through his spokeswoman
Abigail Valte) correct to say that Corona is the public face of what ails the
system?

Lope Robredillo (photo) offers a very good insight of why the
system is so rotten to the core in the Philippines. http://alturl.com/z4n5g
For Mr. Robredillo, it seems that the feudal nature of Philippine politics
where the rich, the privileged and the elite vie among themselves to capture
power, retain them for themselves, and expand them, is to blame. Robredillo
states:

"To begin with, those who dominate national and even local politics belong
to the privileged class—mostly big landlords, big businessmen, or their agents.

If these privileged people run for office, one is tempted to say that it
is not primarily to serve the majority, though political advertisements may
argue the contrary. In reality, they run in order to capture political power.
Why so? The reason is that it is the single most important power in the country.
Political power enables them to control people, pass laws and make policies that
are to their advantage, even legitimize their control, and dominate others. Even
more significant, political power, as we shall mention shortly, can be converted
to economic power. Hardly would they pass a bill that would be contrary to their
interest, although it would be beneficial for the many. That is why, for
instance, land reform program has not been successful—that clashes with the
stake of the landed gentry. Anti-dynasty provision is found in the constitution,
but one can be almost sure that until the second coming of Christ, no enabling
law would be enacted."

Noynoy Cojuanco Aquino certainly comes from the privileged class of mostly
landlords and big businessmen. Former Senator Richard Gordon notes that the
Aquinos and the Cojuancos has had 209 years of Public Service yet the country is
still plagued with corruption and poverty. He notes:

"The Aquino family has been in public office for a total of 209 years for the
last 112 years from Servillano Aquino, who was a Representative of Samar to the
Malolos Congress in 1898, to Benigno Q. Aguino, Sr., who was a congressman,
senator, and vice president during the Japanese occupation, to Benigno Aquino,
Jr., to Corazon Aquino, Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, to Jesli A. Lapus, to Margarita
"Tingting" Cojuangco, to Agapito "Butz" Aquino, to Hermie Aquino, Gilbert
Teodoro, Nikki Teodoro and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.
If this is the case, why then is there still corruption and poverty in our
country? How is Tarlac? This is a fair question to ask."


[PHOTO -Former Senator Richard Gordon]
Looking at Gordon's point, it further illuminates Robredillo's statement
that:

"Power and privileged, however, are difficult to give up. It is within
their inherent logic to perpetuate. Which is why, politics is dominated by the
same families election after election. After the man is through with his term,
the wife succeeds him, or his son. In some municipalities, it happens that once
one finishes 3 consecutive terms, all of 9 years, as mayor, he runs for vice
mayor in the hope that in the next election, he will run again for the post he
was no longer qualified to hold. Political dynasty has its own logic for being."


Noynoy's mother, the late President Corazon Cojuanco Aquino, issued
Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229 to re-define the agrarian reform
program which involved stock distribution option to circumvent compliance to the
land reform act of transferring the Hacienda to the farmers. Wasn't that clearly
a move to the benefit of the Cojuanco-Aquino family rather than the benefit of
the farmers? When Noynoy was Deputy House Speaker in Congress, the time when he
was a strong ally of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the
Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project added the San Miguel/Luisita interchange
thereby financially benefitting Noynoy's family. Wasn't this a sign of political
power and influence yielding economic gain for a privileged family?

Another culprit that Robredillo pointed out was political turncoatism among
the politicians. Robredillo avers that:

"Precisely because they represent almost no one else save their families and
interests, it becomes logical why in Philippine politics, political parties are
in practice devoid of meaning. In theory, parties are means through which
ideology, vision and programs for running the government are made. In reality,
parties are convenient structure that candidates use to capture power. One
switches party affiliation as family or personal interest demands. Turncoatism
is as easy as changing shoes."

It is interesting to note that Noynoy was very much a part of Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo's coalition during the first half of her reign. In fact, Noynoy
and the rest of his Yellow horde supported the 2001 powergrab of Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo from the duly elected President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Jesusa
Bernardo points out that:

"Noynoy's little-spoken but nonetheless criminal deeds against the people did
not end with the 2001 EDSA coup. During the 2004 elections, Noynoy allowed, or
perhaps helped facilitate the electoral cheating committed against Fernando Poe
Jr. in the conspiracy to fraudulently declare Arroyo as the winner of the
presidential race. Noynoy as Tarlac congressman did nothing as stalwarts of his
Liberal Party and others railroaded the congressional canvassing by refusing to
open the contested COCs (certificates of canvass). As Daily Tribune's Ninez
Cacho-Olivares notes, Noynoy Aquino "kept his mouth shut even in the face of
massive electoral cheating," thus effectively preventing the Filipino public
from knowing the real 2004 President-elect. …
The only time Filipinos got to know that Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) really won in
the 2004 polls was when the Hello Garci wiretapped tapes came out, which
primarily showed that Arroyo engaged in conversations with elections
commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in connection with operations surrounding the
May 11, 2004 polls. However, even when the Aquinos already learned about the
tapes, Noynoy did not immediately withdraw support from the Illegitimate
"President." In fact, he even voted AGAINST the airing of the tapes during the
fifth Congressional hearing on the "Hello Garci" issue on June 30, 2005, the
first anniversary of the surreptitious wee-hour-of-the-morning congressional
proclamation of Arroyo as "President-elect." …
Noynoy even praised Arroyo's televised July 2, 2005 I am sorry" speech,
claiming it's a "good start" for the controversial administration. Cory, for her
part, even warned against resorting to extra-constitutional means to remove
Arroyo, even as they themselves had four years earlier ousted Estrada and
installed the Illegitimate in her place. …
The sequence of events that his defense implies also constitutes falsehood:
Noynoy Aquino actually withdrew support for Gloria only in July 8, 2005–six days
AFTER he voted against the airing of the Hello Garci tapes. (As to why the
Aquinos ultimately dropped Arroyo, GMA-7's Stephanie Dychiu seems to point to
the not-exactly favorable report of Task Force Luisita that came out that same
month)."

Indeed, in the Philippines, it seems that politics is not anchored on
principles and ideology but the demands of family and personal interest.

Another major culprit that Robredillo points out is patronage politics. A
perfect example of how patronage politics is employed is through the dangling of
the pork barrel by the executive to congress. Robredillo states:

"The executive does everything in its power to place the legislative under
its influence. As we shall see below, this is done by patronage politics. One
glaring example is how the executive dangles the pork barrel. Sure enough, if
the judiciary and the legislative are weakened, the politician-executive has
nothing to fear—all he wants, he gets. He can always hope that the law or its
interpretation can bend. If the law sets limits on one's term, for instance,
somebody can be trusted to initiate a move to change the law. With branches of
the government under one's influence, one can always make the educated guess
that impeachment complaints against him can never prosper. …
But many critics think that most notorious is the pork barrel, rebaptized in
2000 as Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). The head of the executive
department has of course the biggest share, but those of the senators and
congressmen are not paltry. With pork barrel, one has great opportunities to
beef up his wealth. Some observers say that almost half of the appropriated
funds for projects ends up in the pocket of corrupt politicians in cahoots with
businessmen. Hence, even if he does not receive his salary—and some flaunt to
make sure that people know they do not—the corrupt official can still dip his
finger into his PDAF. No wonder, many infrastructures are substandard, and are
easily ruined. On the other hand, despite the corruption involved, people are
still grateful to them for being allowed to work in the project. Politicians
have their cake, and are able to eat it, too."

If one recalls, Congressman Toby Tiangco in his testimony at the Impeachment
Trial of Corona narrated how the administration tried to pressure Members of the
House of Representatives to support impeachment moves against former Ombudsman
Gutierrez and Chief Justice Corona. The policy is plain and simple. Give what
the administration wants- you receive your pork barrel. Refuse the
administration's whims – you either get zero pork barrel or your pork barrel
gets delayed.

While Renato Corona may have come from a well-to-do family, he was
not as blue-blooded as the Philippine oligarchs such as the Cojuancos, the
Lopezes, the Roxases and the Aranetas. He focused his entire career in the Law
and not in politics. He was not a haciendero nor was he a turncoat against
anyone he worked for and worked with. His principles stood firm and consistent
regardless of where the political wind blew and regardless of his and his
family's interest. Instead of succumbing to the pressures exerted by the
executive for the judiciary to toe the Palace line when the Department of Budget
and Management tried to disregard the Supreme Court's fiscal autonomy as
guaranteed by the Constitution, Corona fought against the Executive's move to
protect the Court from the similar type of patronage politics that plague the
legislative branch through pork barrel dangling.

So now we go back to the question: Is Noynoy Aquino (through his
spokeswoman Abigail Valte) correct to say that Corona is the public face of what
ails the system? Doesn't the public face of what ails the system resemble a 50
year old balding haciendero dictator more than Renato Corona does? The general
Filipino public does not think so for they still believe that Noynoy is an
honorable man.
Heaven help the Philippines.


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved




PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE



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