Friday, May 09, 2008 Capillas: Misquotes and manipulation By Stephen Capillas Galley Proof
THE investigation conducted by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) into the Hanjin bribery controversy turned out nothing that Tagoloan Mayor Paulino Emano denied there was any bribery offer involved because he was only misquoted by what he called as unscrupulous media on the payroll of rival politicians out to get him.
And the basis of their findings into the investigation? A mere affidavit secured by Emano who stated among other things that there are politicians -- assuming of course he was referring to administration, Padayon Pilipino or Lakas types -- critical of his supposed alliance with Villanueva Mayor Juliet Uy since it would pose a threat to their 2010 election chances.
The usual excuse of public officials especially in the Emano family who have ruled the local political landscape for, well, over several decades when it came to dealing with criticisms concerning their administration. Then again that's the same thing that's happening in other parts of this benighted country.
But we forget one little thing and that is why would Tagoloan municipal employees of Mayor Emano's office would decide to beat up then and there a Hanjin driver who may not exactly be a middle-man for the business group, but was given inordinate attention anyway by the employees enough to receive a physical thrashing?
For the DILG officials and most likely the task force assigned to investigate this little mess, the Emano affidavit was not only sufficient to secure an exoneration of both Emano and Uy but also the re-installment of two municipal police chiefs in Tagoloan and Villanueva. Oh right, the driver wasn't made to undergo an injury exam to verify his claims of physical harassment.
So does this guarantee that Hanjin would return to its shipyard project immediately after this brouhaha? Apparently there is one interesting angle that cropped up in this whole exasperating episode and that is the Hanjin firm's intention to divert the Tagoloan river flow, which the mayor to his credit wasn't too keen on.
Hence the P400 million contract intended to "sweeten the deal", which as previously pointed out in this corner may have been misconstrued either by Emano or the media practitioner that had supposedly misquoted him as an outright bribe. So to review, where does the alleged extortion attempt by Emano come in?
Again look to the beaten driver angle for reference. What's clear for now is that what the President wants, she gets and the people down the political power totem pole are falling all over themselves to see that this Hanjin shipyard project pushes through.
But to go back to what Emano said about those media practitioners whom he accused of deliberately misquoting him and which he said can "make white black and black white." The elections are over for nearly a year now and still, he believes these media hacks and their political patrons are out to get him with this bribery scandal.
The now embattled Tagoloan mayor accuses these same media practitioners of otherwise engaging in manipulating public perception on him and other issues related to this simmering controversy. I don't know whether the task force that's investigating the case would come to the same DILG conclusion.
But there is no mistaking that their priority now is not the investigation but the enticement of Hanjin to come back and start work on the multi-billion peso shipyard project. All else is subordinate and besides, they think this whole thing will just boil over. Maybe or maybe not.
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