May pork na, allowance pa

So what was it, really? A Christmas gift? An allowance? A bribe? Nobody seems to know the nomenclature for it, even those who have admitted being recipients are not sure. But aside from the Cebu congressman who claimed he only got P200,000, and the priest-governor of Pampanga who frankly owned up to being gifted with five bundles of P1,000 bills, two more confirmed the dole out, but refused to be identified. Well, in Negros Occidental, we have reports about the denials of our representatives about ever getting shares of the largesse from the Palace.

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What is quite appalling is the clarification that the "Christmas gift" is not part of the P70 MILLION in pork barrel funds that the congressmen are expected to receive soon. Whatta life! May pork na, may allowance pa. No wonder candidates go to any lengths just to get elected to congress. I do believe their positions are more beneficial, financially, than of those who go to the Senate. I hope some senators are not regretting being so uncooperative with the Palace that nobody there would ever think of giving them advanced Christmas gifts.

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Giving congressmen and governors funds should not be a cause for suspicion if the releases had been done through the proper method, i.e., the usual s.o.p. This time, however, none of those who admitted being recipients said that they had requested for the amount, had signed vouchers acknowledging receipt of the money which was, biggest surprise of all, given in cold cash. Somehow it seems like the kind of pay-off that kidnappers would demand - only cash. Well, there appears to be a change in the method of distribution, before the gifts came in envelopes, this time, they were stuffed into paper bags. Nobody has mentioned if the bags carried a Christmas motif, even just the figure of Santa Claus.

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In his usual deadpan manner, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye has pooh-poohed accusations of irregularity in the gift-giving. There is nothing wrong with donations, he reportedly said. Why even the late Cardinal Jaime Sin had said that donations are all right. For sure the good and loquacious cardinal would have chided him, saying, not if the donations are interpreted to influence the officials stand on certain issues that could be detrimental to the "donor". I hope the Cardinal does not give Bunye some nightmares to indicate his displeasure.

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Somehow, many of our workers who go abroad to be employed in foreign lands have become either callous or mercenary. And, alas, the same goes for members of their families, too. With some exceptions, of course, these people opt to go to dangerous areas, like Iraq or Nigeria which have records already of abductions of foreigners, even those on missionary work. The latest example is that electrician who was kidnapped and held in Nigeria for about two weeks. After a lot of anxiety and negotiations, he finally got freed and was brought home.

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But, after his moment of publicity and exposure upon arrival, he soon was announcing, even appealing to the government to lift the ban on the fielding of workers to Nigeria! Is he a glutton for punishment? Or was the sensation caused by his abduction so exciting that he doesn't mind being exposed to it again? As for the families, well, some of them never had it so good, with the "foreign aid" pouring on them, and the popularity they all gained by appearances on TV and other media. By the way, what happened to that truck driver who was the first to be kidnapped in Iraq and whose release cost us, not only money, but also a diminution in our reputation among our fellow nations?

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Now what is all this rumbling about a tunnel that had been built by the Jimayah Islamiyah where its members and fellow terrorists can go through to some other parts of Lanao? The story is said to have come from military intelligence sources. Have they verified this already? Let's hope it is not another wild tale like that one about the underground community said to have been set up by the unlamented Saddam Hussein, or the so-called "weapons for mass destruction" similar intelligence reports had warned and convinced President George W. Bush and his congress about. Until now, both "intelligence reports" have turned out to be, as the military would say, "negative, negative…" only.*

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