Hagad: Political persecutions, that’s what they are

Monday, July 18, 2011

LAST Saturday, together with a group of friends and colleagues from the Liberal Party, I listened to a brief spiel given by Atty. Alex Lacson, author of that very popular book “Twelve Little Things Every Filipino Can Do For His Country”. Alex is one of those rare persons who can explain the most complicated matters in such a simple and straightforward way that one wonders why it ever seemed complicated before.

Discussing the conflicting picture that President PNoy presents to the Filipino public one year into his term, Alex had this to say: “The two most important ingredients in Government, without which it is inutile, are (a) Public Funds and, (b) Power.” Unfortunately, he said, these are also the things most abused by past government administrations.
Turning his sights on President Noy, Alex then pointed out that here is one president who, one year into his 6-year term, has shown that he will not steal public funds and that he has no desire to abuse the powers of his office. “Because of those two things I already gave President PNoy passing marks,” he said. Asked about the issue of whether or not the President is competent enough to handle the problems of the country, Alex Lacson said, the time for us to judge that will be at the end of his term, not before.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Well said. After one year as the highest public official in the Philippines , even his most rabid critics have not called PNoy a thief. As far as the way he has used the power of the Office of the President, the only criticism I have heard them say is that his persistent campaign to run after former President Gloria M. Arroyo and her men is nothing more than “political persecution”. Here is where we should now grant Mr. Aquino a passing pre-lim grade in the use of his presidential powers.

Of course it’s political persecution. That’s what you call it when you demand the former leaders of the government to justify and explain the public money that cannot be accounted for, the questionable contracts that have been entered into, the rampant violations of the law by those who crafted and/or ought to have implemented it properly and fairly, and the lives needlessly lost in the poor exercise of government policies.

It’s political persecution when the President’s men hail former officials to court or to the Office of the Ombudsman, to investigate controversies that boiled over during his predecessor’s term but which were never given satisfactory closure by the simple expedient of letting them go the way of Mr. Rip Van Winkle; that is, by letting them sleep the sleep of the damned.

It is political persecution when the President encourages even whistle-blowers like Governor Zaldy Ampatuan or former Comelec Commissioner Lintang Bedol to recall and relate massive incidents of electoral fraud during past elections, reportedly with the knowledge and possible participation of President GMA herself, if only to encourage other witnesses to come out and bring the truth along with them.

It is political persecution when the Aquino Administration opens the gravestones of supposedly “closed” issues like the ZTE-NBN Deal, the Fertilizer Fund Scam, and new issues like the reportedly-unauthorized PCSO disbursements of its funds. It is political persecution when the alleged tax liabilities of the Arroyos are examined by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for possible illegal evasions.

These are all political persecutions because they all form part of the campaign promise of President Benigno Aquino III to rid the country of Corruption and the Corrupt by the end of his term of office, promises which convinced the electorate to grant him one of the highest mandates ever granted a Philippine President. He has to live up to these promises.

Political persecutions? Of course. That’s what they are.