The Pink Panther

With more than a year to go before the 2010 elections, politics is obviously heating up early with the “clash of colors” between several party list representatives and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani “BF” Fernando. The “red” leaning congressmen are obviously peeved at BF’s choice of pink as the color for road signs, foot bridges, walkways, fences, urinals and other structures saying the feminine hue violates the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, and are offensive to the senses.

Naturally, BF is not about to cave in, defending his color coding scheme and insisting that the metro’s drab environment needs a healthy touch of pink to liven it up. Early this year, the MMDA chief had been criticized by Parañaque Congressman Roilo Golez for the use of pink in enforcing traffic regulations. Golez had even called for a lifestyle check of MMDA officials to verify allegations that a number of them are living beyond their means. A couple of weeks ago, Senator Miriam Santiago also trained her guns on the MMDA chief, saying the additional P13 million added by the House of Representatives to the MMDA original budget may just be used to “support” the presidential campaign of Fernando.

BF had been very vocal about his plan to run for 2010, saying he is prepared to gun it alone even if Lakas will not pick him as standard bearer. Critics of BF suspect that his use of pink for every MMDA project gives him an undue advantage since people would naturally associate the color with him. (Of course, candidates adopt a campaign color to make voters remember them easily. Cory Aquino chose yellow to drum up anti-Marcos sentiments while Joseph Estrada preferred orange for the 1998 presidential elections.)

No doubt other presidential hopefuls are unhappy that BF got nationwide attention when he joined the second season – and eventually became the Grand Champion – of GMA 7’s “Celebrity Duets.” Add to that the fact that his posters with innocuous-sounding motherhood statements are proliferating not only in Metro Manila but in other places like Laguna, Pangasinan and we are told, even as far as Masbate. People are wondering where Bayani got the money for these materials, and there are persistent allegations that MMDA funds are being used to prep BF for his eventual run in 2010.

BF’s unrelenting use of pink – which by his own admission is a personal preference – makes one wonder if he is a fan of The Pink Panther. Those familiar with the origin of The Pink Panther would remember the animated short films (not the movie series), starting with the first one in 1964 called “The Pink Phink” featuring the cool cat who keeps trying to paint the blue-colored house of a white-mustached man pink.

You can bet no one will be surprised if the former Marikina mayor decides to appropriate the Pink Panther for his mascot and will even encourage people to watch reruns of movies like “Pretty in Pink” if or when he really makes a go for it in 2010. 

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Firing against a blank wall

I find it difficult to believe allegations that DOJ Undersecretary Ric Blancaflor pressured the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to release the so-called “Alabang Boys.” Ric, whom I know personally, is not the type who would intervene for the dismissal of a high-profile and controversial case. I tend to believe his explanation more, that he just called to inquire about the status of the case and ask why a Dec. 2 resolution (signed by Chief State prosecutor Jovencito Zuño) ordering the release of the three boys due to technicalities like illegal arrest and search, had not been implemented.

It is unfair to paint Ric as a bribe-taking official, considering that he is known as an idealistic man who even used to be with the RAM. As he pointed out, he would not waste 15 years of community and government service and engage in something that would tarnish his reputation, like breaking the law just to help someone who is not even closely acquainted with him.

When he was with the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, Ric was able to calm the frayed nerves of many journalists who thought they would be subjected to wiretaps under the Human Security Act, pointing out that the law is clear, and that the government wants to protect the freedom of expression and freedom of the press. As DOJ Undersecretary, he had been batting for the hiring of more prosecutors to speed up the resolution of cases in an effort to decongest not only the lower courts of pending cases but the country’s jails as well. A public prosecutor usually has to handle an average of 450 trial cases and another 225 for preliminary investigation – and obviously this caseload is too much for one person to competently and effectively handle. 

In any event, I understand PDEA’s Special Enforcement head Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino and even PDEA chief Gen. Dionisio Santiago had clarified that there was nothing illegal in Ric Blancaflor’s call to the Agency since it is normal for people to verify the status of cases, especially those that have caught the special interest of the public. Those who keep insisting otherwise will just be firing against a blank wall.

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