We need more choices

Despite the significant decline in the survey rating for VP Jojo Binay for the 2016 presidential race, he is still the man to beat at this time. The decline however, brought about by the continuing Senate hearings on the Makati City parking building, shows the VP can be vulnerable.

The hearing last Thursday brought out new revelations, this time from COA on adverse findings of the audit agency on purchases made for the Ospital ng Makati. If the interim COA report is sustained, the shocking revelations of overprice of, in one instance, 9000 percent, may yet chip away some more on the VP’s popularity.

For instance, COA has verified that the autoclaves or sterilizers that were bought by Makati for P1,465,000 can by bought for only P16,000 or 9,056 percent overpriced. I would love to hear how the Binays can explain that one.

There are more scandalously overpriced goods bought for the Ospital ng Makati, according to COA. Regular hospital beds the City of Makati bought for P148,000 were verified by COA to only cost P9,032.76 each or overpriced by 1,537 percent.

 Orthopedic beds bought by Makati for P480,000 each was verified by COA audit to cost only P24,087.36 or overpriced by 1,893 percent. ICU beds Makati bought for P545,000 each were verified by COA audit to each cost only P34,123.76 or an overprice of 1,497 percent. And so on for other items.

Overpricing in the thousand percent is scandalous. If these figures are used in a well designed campaign, these could be lethal. The Binays must give convincing explanations to rebut such shocking figures from COA. It is not enough to say the COA allegations were dismissed or withdrawn because these could just be legal technicalities, not on the merits. Figures must be rebutted by figures and documents.

It does not help for the VP’s credibility that his lawyer so desperately tried to stop the hearing to the point of arguing with the chair of the committee. Using the Supreme Court to stop the hearings will make the VP seem guilty and afraid. He should instead, accept the invitation of some senators to interrogate his accusers in the same forum.

Then again, I wonder too if people actually care about these corruption allegations. I get the feeling that people have written off public officials as being all the same… hopelessly corrupt. It is just a question of voting for the least corrupt or for the one who has given the voters a share of the loot.

The feudal nature of our society works for the politician who has developed a strong network of supporters from among local officials. The VP has been working on this over the past 20 years or so, establishing sister city relationships with cities all over the country and cozy ties with their mayors.

Not only has the VP been generous in sharing Makati’s financial resources with its sister cities, he has also taken good care of LGU officials through the years. The national network of LGU officials is the VP’s strongest weapon for the 2016 election.

I have known the VP from way back and from a personal level, it is easy to like him. His record as a human rights lawyer who risked everything in fighting the Marcos dictatorship has left a soft spot in the hearts of those in our generation who lived through the dictatorship.

Indeed, until the COA findings, many of us have chosen to remember the Jojo Binay we knew before he was Makati’s mayor. Still, it will be good to get more direct answers from the VP rather than his merely dancing around the charges and claiming everything is just politics.

Until that happens, we are back to a choice of the lesser evil or as the Liberal party folks would like to believe, between good and evil. People are tired of being told it is a choice between good and evil. It is also no longer enough to just claim to be good. We need to elect someone who is good, has a demonstrated ability to run this country and deliver the goods.

I have no doubt that Mar Roxas is one decent individual who can be expected to remain clean. But Mar has also proven over the last four years that he cannot be an effective government executive. He is afraid to make decisions and because he comes from the haciendero class, has no empathy with the working class no matter how hard he tries.

Someone tried to explain to me our dilemma with this story: A jeepney operator is trying to decide who between two applicants he will choose to entrust his jeepney. One driver is reputed to be a good driver, “ma-abilidad”, has an outstanding safety record but has a shady reputation in money matters even if unproven in black and white. The other is reputed to be honest and never stolen a centavo but somewhat naïve and prone to accidents.

So, who should the owner choose? That’s also our dilemma as we approach the 2016 election if the choices in front of us are just these two.

We really need more choices. But in the absence of strong political parties, only the popular ones emerge. In the past there are party conventions that choose the major candidates. Today, we are at the mercy of the opinion polls.

What keeps my hopes up is the possibility that between now and 2016 more choices will emerge. Events last week brought to light two possibilities: Sen Grace Poe and Gov Joey Salceda.

Sen. Poe’s performance at the Senate hearings has been very encouraging to those of us who are almost ready to give up. She is always the tough but polite interrogator. Even when she seems irritated by the responses she is getting, she keeps her cool.

She is firm and cannot be waylaid by witnesses with non responsive answers. That’s because she sticks to her objectives and goes straight to the point.

Unlike other senators, she conducts her hearings without a hint of personal malice. Again unlike most senators, she comes to a hearing well prepared and gives the impression that all she is intelligent and only after the truth.

The other choice who has remained a well kept secret is Albay Gov Joey Salceda. An economist, his performance in his almost nine years as Governor of his disaster prone province and before that as member of Congress qualifies him to lead this country. The typhoons and eruption threat from Mt Mayon once again highlighted the ability of Gov Joey to manage crisis situations well.

In an ideal world, we would be choosing between Grace Poe and Joey Salceda to succeed P-Noy and not between VP Jojo and Sec Mar. Unfortunately, the political reality goes against any possibility that we may elect a clean and competent president.

It sounds hopeless. But it isn’t as hopeless as what the Hong Kong youth are facing against China’s Communist regime softening its stance. Yet, they are fighting for their impossible dream. So should we.

Porsche and Prado

It is surreal how the PNP Chief volunteered the information he got a very big discount for his Toyota Prado SUV during the Senate hearing. He saw nothing wrong with it and is probably wondering why people are making a fuss.

Not too long ago, P-Noy himself faced a similar situation of being given a generous price by the dealer of Porsche and after sales service fit for a king. And he saw nothing wrong with it also.

In fairness to P-Noy, that favor didn’t stop the BIR from going after the Porsche dealer. The dealer ended up paying the BIR a billion pesos in deficiency assessment. The Toyota dealer should be next.

Here are some of my thoughts expressed in a column I wrote last January 17, 2011:

Now it seems that with P-Noy, we have to constantly remind him where the daang matuwid is… When he took that oath at the Luneta, he should have realized the Constitution he vowed to uphold called upon public officials to “lead modest lives…”

I also recall a similar provision of the Civil Service Code which requires public officials and their families not to indulge in extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth in any form. There is also the Administrative Code that talks of “thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency.”

And because he has apparently violated the spirit and the provisions of Law requiring government officials and employees to live simply, he has also lost the moral authority to demand it from the bureaucracy.

That, my friends, explains Purisima.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco