Ping, Kiko no longer keen on joining Noy?

IT’S NOW COLOMA: The trying-hard talking heads of the Malacañang press office —  Edwin Lacierda, Ricky Carandang and Abigail Valte — better not resist their being given, huh, some rest.

From President Noynoy Aquino himself came the instructions, according to PhilSTAR sources, that Press Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma be now the lead presidential spokesman.

Over his penchant for protecting his men, the President must have started to feel the damage wrought on his image by bum spokesmanning. Dropping by 15 percentage points in a trust rating poll conducted by sympathetic survey firms is no joke.

Is this part of an overdue sweeping away of deadwood littering the “tuwid na daan” of President Aquino that has contributed to negative perception? I don’t know.

But as a long-time observer, I do know that it won’t hurt, in fact it may help, to give Press Secretary Coloma enough time and space to show what he can do.

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FISCAL DICTATORSHIP: One wonders who advised the President to insist on keeping his presidential pork, including the legally infirm Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) fund. Was he misled into digging in, unaware he was possibly digging his political grave?

We said in Postscript last Oct. 15: “President Aquino appears to have decided to rise or fall on the pork barrel issue, but the people, if surveys are to be believed, have just cautioned him with a sharp drop in his net trust rating.”

It is understandable that the President wants to keep his pork, the tool devoutly to be wielded in controlling the Congress and other salivating sectors who yelp and leap like Pavlov’s dogs every time the Palace pork barrel is opened.

But, according to former senator Ping Lacson, using pork for political control is “fiscal dictatorship.” Note that the President had promised him a Cabinet appointment as anti-crime (or was it as anti-corruption?) czar.

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PHILCONSA SUIT: As a result of the President’s stubborn stand on pork, Lacson appears to have rejected as untenable his proposed appointment.

In a stinging speech on pork and its implications last Thursday at the Manila Golf Club gathering of the Philippine Constitution Association, Lacson supported Philconsa’s questioning before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of DAP.

Although he clarified that he thinks using savings for some public need is not totally bad or illegal per se, he noted:

“If the programs and projects were actual budgetary items in the GAA, why was there a need for the endorsement of legislators? If the projects did not appear in the GAA and therefore still to be identified by the legislator recipients of additional PDAF under DAP, clearly, there were no items in the 2011 and 2012 GAAs to be augmented. Worse, the realignment crossed over from the executive branch to the legislative.”

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UGLY & CRUEL: Bemoaning pork barrel as “ugly and cruel, sometimes merciless toward people we swear to serve and protect,” Lacson – the only senator who never collected any pork – said this aspect of the administration “perpetuates greed and corruption.”

Explaining his not collecting his pork allotments, he recalled party and Senate caucuses where colleagues discussed behind closed doors how to get allotments beyond the P70-million yearly limit for congressmen and P200 million for senators.

He recalled noticing that later on he was no longer being invited to some of the caucuses on pork. (Readers who want a copy of Lacson’s speech may email me at [email protected])

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‘WALA NA YAN!’: Among the Philconsa guests were former military generals who gave their mistah robust rounds of applause as he flayed at the pork barrel and corruption in government.

Asked by a columnist after his speech if he still expected to be named to the Aquino Cabinet, Lacson replied, “Wala na yan!”

His not joining the Cabinet follows an announcement of another former Liberal party senator, Kiko Pangilinan, that he was no longer joining the Aquino administration, preferring to tend instead to his farm in Alfonso, Cavite.

If forced to give up presidential pork, including his off-budget treasure chest bulging with proceeds of state-controlled gambling, the lame duck Aquino’s hold on the Congress is expected to loosen, leading to political realignment before the 2016 elections.

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DUAL-AIRPORT SETUP: The administration, meanwhile, is set to adopt a dual-airport system for the premier Philippine gateway so as to attract more foreign travelers, according to Victor Jose I. Luciano, president/CEO of Clark International Airport Corp.

Luciano said that the idea is for the operation of the Manila International Airport in Metro Manila in tandem with the international airport at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

The Department of Transportation and Communication has been financing the accelerated upgrading of CIAC facilities, including a new terminal for arrivals, to meet its projection of handling four million passengers a year.

Guesting at the Balitaan breakfast last Friday of the Capampangan in Media Inc. (CAMI), Luciano also announced the start of the daily non-stop Doha-Clark-Doha flights of Qatar Airways starting last Monday.

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QATAR SERVICE: Qatar Airways joined the beeline to Clark after Emirates Airlines launched Oct. 1 its direct daily Dubai-Clark-Dubai flights. Qatar will connect Clark to its more than 100 international destinations.

Emirates Airlines, serving 132 cities worldwide, committed to attract one million passengers to Clark.

Emirates country manager Gigie Baroa said they were targeting the 680,000 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, 150,000 in the United Arabia Emirates, and 150,000 in Bahrain. Some 70 percent of overseas Filipino workers come from Clark’s base of Central and Northern Luzon.

Emirates uses a Boeing 777-ER300 aircraft in the Dubai-Clark-Dubai daily route with a capacity of 428 passengers. Qatar daily Doha-Clark-Doha flights use Airbus 330s with a capacity of 305 passengers.

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