Only under PNoy

I was happy when I heard that the House Committee had dropped the impeachment cases against President Aquino. Why? Think of the alternative!

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PNoy may have his faults and shortcomings, but I am sure Filipinos who are not too politicized will always be grateful to him for putting some teeth into our anti-corruption laws. Only under his watch have we seen very high ranking and influential officials being made to answer charges involving graft and corruption, and having to account for their acts while in office. Such a thing was unheard of under any other previous administration.

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Of course none of them has been convicted yet, and, for sure, they will use all the tricks of defense possible, but just having them charged, and detained should put the fear of God in the hearts of other potential violators of the law, especially if they are lawmakers. Just imagine, could it ever have happened that senators, one a former Senate president, could be arrested, detained, and even ordered suspended from the Senate? Only under PNoy.

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And maybe that is why there are only a handful of lawmakers who are doing all they can to remove him from office. Who knows, they may also have some skeletons in their closets that might be discovered in this administration. Let them howl and lambast their fellow solons for voting against the impeachment. After all, ours is democracy, and the democratic process was applied. How did the voting go? Wasn’t it 54 against 4?

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Meanwhile, a would-be whistle blower has found himself in the same situation as the one he was trying to pin down. A former Makati City vice mayor, who had served with now Vice President Jejomar Binay, came out recently to reveal what he knew about the latter’s shenanigans. In the process, however, he implicated himself, and is now facing plunder charges too. Former VM Ernesto Mercado must be blaming himself now for his revelations.

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As for the controversial Makati Parking Building that is said to have cost a whopping P2.7 billion, several experts who have looked it over seem to agree that it could not have cost that much. One even said it should have cost only P800,000. Well, maybe not that cheap, but couldn’t Makati have built another capitol with that, complete with furnishings and appliances? Another supposed expert also said he cannot consider it as world class. In the meantime, fans and supporters of the former mayor are now marching down the streets carrying placards and streamers declaring their support for him. What was it that Abraham Lincoln had said about 10,000 angels swearing for you not being enough if you are wrong?

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While some Makati residents are marching to support their benefactor, Hong Kong residents who are chafing under the Chinese rule are finding out the difference between dissent under a democracy and under a communist administration. Where is the supposed slogan of One Country -Two Systems they had been promised would be upheld when China took over from the British? Now they are finding out that they cannot even nominate a candidate of their choice. Only those nominated by, or “cleared” by the state can run for office.

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Hong Kongers are now finding out that they cannot have a say in the choice of their leaders. But they are not losing hope, and are set to stage another protest rally, with their battlecry “Occupy Central”. I fear for them, because their chances of being heard, much less accommodated, are virtually nil. China will never tolerate that kind of dissent. If they are thinking of doing an EDSA, I’d say, perish the thought. You might see another Tiananmen tragedy in your generation.

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The Asian Development Bank has released the results of a study showing that the Philippines is likely to get more disastrous rains in the coming months. Will they be as bad as the ones we had last week when city streets became like canals of dirty water? The warning should be heeded by our officials now, and not wait until later to “assess” and recommend, and, maybe forget until the skies weep again.*

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