MEDIA STATEMENT
of the LAKAS KAMPI CMD members in the MINORITY
June 8, 2011
A year ago, we were promised: a government run by people chosen on the basis of integrity, competence and performance. Today, we have a government where there is a surfeit of kakampi, kaklase and kabarilan.
In a word: cronies. Dalawamput-limang taon matapos mapatalsik ang mga kampon ni Marcos, nakapuwesto naman ang mga katuwang ni PNoy.
And when these close associates run afoul, true to the crony patron he has shown himself to be, President Aquino drags his feet in investigating, reprimanding, and firing, even as he harangues and harasses political rivals with no basis or evidence.
Now, even a loyal family friend and one of the few gems in the Cabinet, has found PNoy’s cronyism too much to stomach. We commend DOTC Secretary Ping de Jesus for refusing to bend his principles in the face of a President who bends so easily to the winds and wiles of cronyism.
We in the House Minority will also not let good governance and the national interest be compromised to accommodate the presidential barkada and repay political debts.
We are filing a resolution to investigate members of the official family whom the Palace has refused to hold accountable: shooting buddies Rico Puno for alleged bribery and Virginia Torres for illegal meddling, kabarkada Executive Secretary Ochoa and his reported P40-million mansion, Finance Secretary Purisima, filing tax charges against political enemies, but not his own correct returns, and now PCSO Chairperson Juico, who has claimed financial troubles and denied much needed assistance, while sitting on billions of pesos in the bank left intact by the previous administration.
We can only hope that former senator Mar Roxas, having been pressed to take the DOTC post, will not let PNoy’s kabarilan LTO ASec. Torres resume her unsavory ways threatening to jeopardize the nation’s entire driver licensing and vehicle registration system. We shall also call for hearings to be assured that the DOTC shall discharge its functions properly, including the bidding out of PPP projects with transparency, fairness, and public interest ensured.
Speaking of PPP, we must also look into the Aquino Administration’s series of canceled contracts, for which the country may again be taken to international court, and lambasted as a place where investors sign deals at their own grave risk. How can the country attract private partners for mega-projects if the President rips to shreds perfected contracts with reputable global enterprises?
Kung ang kontrata hindi igagalang, ang Pilipinas iilagan at iiwasan.
Our anti-crony watch will have to get even sharper. We see clear cronyism in the appointment of a long-time family friend, Domingo Lee, as Ambassador to China despite lacking the experience and training for the delicate post in Beijing, especially at this time of thorny sovereignty issues in the South China Sea.
Even more critical for the anti-crony watch is the Ombudsman, which must be filled with someone not only untainted by scandal, but also free from partisan politics or presidential influence. Certainly, the next Ombudsman should not deal with allegations about administration officials the way the President dismisses them.
And we cannot but shudder to think what cronyism PNoy would unleash in Muslim Mindanao once the bill to put ARMM under his handpicked OICs becomes law. This unconstitutional and illegal measure to rob our Muslim compatriots of their autonomy and votes must be contested in the proper forum.
Nothing in our democracy is more inviolable than the fundamental right of our citizens to elect their own leaders. Postponing the elections in the region and allowing the President to merely appoint officials in the interim tramples on this right and violates the autonomy provided by the ARMM charter.
Hindi dapat hayaang magpuwesto rin ng mga crony sa ARMM.
We have already seen P-Noy’s penchant to appoint his pals. Who is to say that the posts in ARMM won’t be filled up once again on the basis of friendship with the President and not on the basis of any real ability to bring progress to the region?
Malacanang’s scheme to postpone the ARMM elections persists despite an SWS survey showing 51 percent of our people oppose this very plan. Makinig ka sa iyong mga boss, PNoy!
Instead of hatching one political scheme after another, the President should pay attention to the deteriorating economic figures. GDP growth, foreign investment, business and consumer confidence, hunger and poverty, and now inflation and interest rates are all taking a turn for the worse.
As the people are surveyed for their ratings of the government, they too are asking: Mr. President, where are you and your cronies taking our country?
Kung panay politika at barkada ang aatupagin, ang Tuwid na Daan pupunta sa bangin.