Joc-joc, Gloria and history

EDITORIAL

Click to enlarge

11/21/2008

The efforts to make former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-joc” Bolante accountable for the P728 million or more, based on parallel revelations from some people on the fertilizer scam are but a microcosm of the public’s desire to know the truth over allegations made against President Arroyo to impeach her.

The stripping down of the latest impeachment complaint prior to its likely slaying by allies of Mrs. Arroyo, who still has overwhelming control over the House of Representatives, means the charges leveled against Gloria would not see the light of day even at the plenary stage in Congress.

The throwing out of the supplemental charges against Gloria, particularly the Quezon complaint-in-intervention that sought to include the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) that Gloria had attempted to forge with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which would have dismembered the country, all the more indicated the rush to which Gloria’s allies are moving in having the case over and done with.

The scrapping of the Quezon complaint overstepped the bounds of comprehensive reasoning since the Supreme Court decision that declared the MoA-AD unconstitutional was issued after businessman and National Broadband Network (NBN) scam key witness Jose “Joey” de Venecia III filed the latest impeachment complaint against Gloria.

For the sake of wishful thought, however, that Gloria is impeached and that the process moves to the Senate which would then be convened as a court to try her, would the public have a fairer chance of knowing the truth about the allegations that Gloria cheated in the 2004 presidential elections; that she benefited from scandalous contracts such as the $320-million NBN scam awarded to Chinese supplier ZTE; the $530-million Northrail overprice; the fertilizer scam-like Swine scandal and the sellout of the country’s gold reserves to ZTE in the Mt. Diwalwal gold project; that she has responsibility over the long list of her critics slain under mysterious circumstances; and that she bribed her way several times to gain concessions from Congress?

A trial at the Senate court would have only that of former President Estrada in late 2000 and early 2001 as reference.

That Senate trial never saw its fruition after a group led by Catholic bishops, Makati businessmen and civil society groups backed by the military, installed Gloria Arroyo in a supposed replay of the People Power Revolt of 1986. Nobody would now admit with a straight face participation in that bastardization of People Power.

During the course of the Senate court proceedings presided over by then Chief Justice Hilario Davide, a coup participant who also later swore Gloria into office, and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, allegations of tyranny of numbers were also raised against the allies of Estrada, yet all the charges leveled against the then president was laid out for the public to discern and for the Estrada camp to answer.

The fact that it was not completed, however, makes the impeachment process still an untested measure to remove an abusive leader and even weakened the democratic process.

A Senate trial for Gloria, however unlikely, would predictably end the way of the brazen lies and unabashed efforts to mislead, no different from what Bolante had resorted to, despite clear proof that government funds were misused to finance Gloria’s fraudulent campaign to steal the presidency in 2004.

Still, the case being elevated to the Senate will already serve nearly the entire purpose of giving the public the opportunity to appreciate the strength of the accusations hurled against a president.

What would also be discerned is whether politics really plays an inordinate function in the many allegations that had hounded Gloria from seemingly the start of her forcible takeover of the presidency in 2001.

The inquiry on Bolante presented the public with an idea on the extent the manipulation of government and its resources can be taken to hide abuse and irregularities; the same way that a Senate proceeding on Gloria would provide the tools necessary for the nation to learn, even in an oblique way, what not to repeat in the future.

Gloria should allow her henchmen in the House of Representatives to lift the roadblocks to her impeachment if only to answer the questions on the seat of the presidency that she assumed but on which questions have long been suspended in mid-air through her machinations.

Gloria and Bolante can still serve their most valuable contribution to the country’s history.

And that part is their being examples of what to avoid and prevent from happening again in a future government.

Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006