Thursday, November 29, 2007 Aguilar: Give us a break! By George Aguilar Rational Animal
YET another possible kickback scandal by the government has been exposed. This time it was administration ally Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who blew the whistle on a Malacañang appointee, Paul Aquino, and the presidential son, Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.
Sen. Miriam Santiago, who sits as chairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), said Paul Aquino, brother-in-law to former President Corazon Aquino and the current head of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC), "lured" Mikey into attempting to convince her to approve the scheduled bidding of two geothermal plants, Palinpinon 1 and 2 and for Tongonan 1 before December 5.
Santiago herself expressed belief that the sale she noted is being made in haste and would not only be tainted but more importantly, increase the price of electricity.
The question also remains, why sell these government assets when, according to sources, they are making money?
In her usual feisty style, Santiago said, "We are fully aware that bidding is set for Dec. 5 and that as much as possible, JCPC should approve the proposed contracts before that date. However, we find that the contracts are infirm, in brief because they would increase the price of electricity while giving PNOC-EDC undeserved profits. Apart from the procedural obstacles, we have substantial reservations about the contracts."
The proposed price structure, Santiago pointed out, is exactly the same structure as the alleged "onerous" IPPs entered into during the Ramos administration, which she said is the very reason electricity in the country is one of the highest in the world.
"Under the contracts, the consumers will again be hit by so-called automatic adjustment," said Santiago.
That's a good one senator; the people may just forgive you for siding with GMA on past issues yet. Be careful though or you may go the way of JDV who is being targeted by someone for reasons that are all too obvious.
Then there's the final Alston report that accused the AFP of "following a deliberate strategy of systematically hunting down the leaders of leftist organizations" (as part of its anti-insurgency campaign).
Philip Alston, who visited the country early this year, said the AFP had "eliminated civil society leaders, including human rights defenders, trade unionists and land reform advocates, intimidated a vast number of civil society actors, and narrowed the country's political discourse." The AFP was quick to deny that it had such a program.
But the problem is that the AFP's and PNP's credibility has eroded over the past few months. This is also the reason why people still have difficulty in accepting the PNP's claim that it was an industrial accident that caused the walls of Glorietta II to come crumbling down and that the Batasan blast targeted only the late Wahib Akbhar.
In his final report to the United Nations, Philip Alston dismissed the government's contention that the 800 plus political killings was the handiwork of a leftist purge. He said that it was "strikingly unconvincing".
Well we already knew that the Alston report would point its finger on the government.
What is also not surprising is the brazen attempt by the government to dismiss the Alston report as just another case of mere opinion on the part of Philip Alston.
Stop, I can't take it anymore! Can we have a moratorium on scandals This Christmas season, please? Can we just stop all these rush to make money the easy way once and for all?
It's not the media's fault that the scandals keep piling up. They're just doing their job. It's the people in government who are apparently immune to public opinion who keep getting caught in some kind of scam. Give us a break already!
