JUST when some sectors thought President Noynoy Aquino has forgotten the Cebuanos, he appointed lawyer Aristotle Butuhan to a sensitive post, that of undersecretary of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) with orders to review all the department’s big contracts entered into by the Arroyo administration.
Batuhan may have lost to a veteran traditional politician, Antonio Cuenco, in two congressional poll jousts, but that does not mean he lacks qualification. He possesses the two trails Solita “Winnie” Monsod said PNoy appointees should be measured against: competence and integrity.
Who’s next?
Another lawyer, Democrito Barcenas, has a good chance of getting PNoy’s nod, especially since a group of Cebuano lawyers has lobbied for his appointment.
Undersecretary of the Department of Justice would be a good fit, considering the woman at the department’s helm, Secretary Leila de Lima.
Teaming up two activist lawyers in the justice department won’t be welcomed by the corrupt in government, especially the big fishes.
A colleague, who has known Batuhan since their student days at the University of San Carlos, when told of his appointment, commented that now is finally the time for his generation.
He expects people his age, especially former activists currently excelling in their chosen professions and who populated the Noy-Mar campaign, to wiggle into the bureaucracy and strengthen the administration’s anti-corruption campaign.
Despite criticisms of some of PNoy’s choices of people for Cabinet posts, I still say that the team he formed has the potential to be good, aside from it being already better in terms of integrity than the former one that lorded it over Malacañang.
Recycling former members of the Cabinets of previous presidents is not the point.
Integrity of the people chosen is.
Of course, “potential” is not “actual” so, as what the late journalist Abe Licayon would often admonish, “let us to see.”
Practice is always the test of a theory or view. In the next months, we will find out who among of the members of Team PNoy are doing good and who should be purged.
In the end, this will be a hit-and-miss situation for the Aquino administration initially. There will be errors, either in PNoy’s choice of people or in some of his moves. But there are those who are holding on to the belief that the man’s sincerity in governance will help him survive the expected trying times.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)