What’s Nene up to ? - GOTCHA by Jarius Bondoc

Flash: Ed Angara will soon replace Ronnie Zamora as executive secretary. And he’ll get to name his successor as agriculture secretary.

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Malacañang’s propaganda line is for every citizen to go about his daily chores as if there’s no economic or political crisis. Consumer prices have doubled since the supposedly stupendous GNP growth of the third quarter. More and more disaffected sectors are losing confidence in the administration. Yet, radio stations are playing tapes of Joseph Estrada telling citizens to ignore critics’ accusations of wrongdoing. He keeps saying he will answer the charges during his impeachment trial. But his aides are saying he won’t testify at all.

His minions mouth variations of Estrada’s call. Dong Puno says protesters should stop marching in the streets and just await the trial verdict. Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla butts in that protest rallies will scare off investors. Senator Miriam Santiago is counting votes for acquittal. Estrada’s lawyers, meanwhile, are trying to delay the trial with technicalities and maneuvers.

Puno denies having a hand in it while a subaltern proudly admits they produced it. A TV-docu contrasts Estrada’s imagined feats with Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos’ failures. With National Security Adviser Alex Aguirre, Senators Blas Ople and Kit Tatad take a step further by saying the Left is using the rallies to grab power.

Finance chief Jose Pardo is advancing a myth of a reformed Catholic President. Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales is raising a parallel image of a new Estrada working harder than ever and capable of leading. Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora is crying that rallies break the law for allegedly belittling the impeachment trial and senators who sit as judges and jurors.

Senators Gringo Honasan and Juan Ponce Enrile are telling citizens to ignore Cory Aquino’s call to write them about voting from conscience. Education Secretary Andrew Gonzales is warning teachers against taking their students to rallies, although education officials ordered teachers and students to show up for Estrada’s provincial sorties in the past six weeks. Puno is saying teachers shouldn’t even talk about impeachment in class.

Yet, outraged citizens are not about to sit back and just watch the trial unfold. They want to trust the impeachment process, but can’t. They’re wary of its handlers. They’ve seen how congressmen had tried thrice to thwart it. They hear murmurs of Malacañang shovelling tons of money to gather Senate votes to acquit. They read of attempts to destroy evidence and harass witnesses. They feel an attempt at mind-conditioning for Estrada’s eventual acquittal. They believe that the only guarantee for a fair trial is to show up at rallies in Metro Manila and in provincial capitols to show that they’re not sleeping.

Human-rights lawyers like Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel should be the first to defend citizens who vigilantly protect and practice their democratic rights. Strangely, he’s opposing them.

In a series of speeches, he scoffed at Aquino and Catholic bishops, sneering that senators don’t need to be reminded of their job. He echoed Estrada’s line that there’s no more need for protest marches since the trial is about to begin. Worse, he’s parroting the line that rallies are only killing businesses. His slip is showing. He doesn’t want to heed anymore the cries often uttered by businessmen and laborers that cronyism and corruption have bled the economy to what it is today.

Pimentel often brags that he had bravely fought Marcos’ martial law and even went to jail for it. He wants his record of 20 years ago to speak for what he’s doing today. Vigilant citizens wish they can still trust him. But it’s hard. Not after witnessing how he rose to the Senate Presidency.

Pimentel had said he didn’t want the post, but will accept it only if the senators insist. And definitely, he won’t cut a deal with Malacañang for it. Yet on the day of the voting, he realized that presiding officer Ople had painted himself into a corner by ruling that any new Senate head must get two-thirds of the votes. Counting noses, he noted that one of 22 senators was absent, two were bent on abstaining and only 12 were on his side. He needed 13 votes to win the seat he declared to not want. So when his turn to vote came up, he dropped the tradition of abstaining as a nominee, and cast the thirteenth vote to clinch the two-thirds. Well done, like a true trapo.

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INTERACTION. Sam Aherrera, mydestiny.com: Before he joined the Cabinet, Dong Puno’s zeal in castigating C-5 and Skyway contractors was a boon for motorists. His covering up now of the C-5 link should alert us voters (Gotcha, 4 Dec. 2000).

Dennis Siazon, inreach.com: Abolish the Public Estate Authority. It’s the milking cow of past and present administrations – the Cebu reclamation, Amari, and now C-5.

Bobby Tordesillas, pworld.net: I agree with you about the intellectual dishonesty of our officials, like Mr. Medalla, who was my economic teacher at La Salle (Gotcha, 2 Dec. 2000). He claims GNP went up in spite of war in Mindanao. I’m sure he knows that government expenditures for that war forms part of GNP, which is equal to C+ I + G, with G standing for government spending. And look at what that war spending did to the budget deficit. GNP growth in the past two years did not create jobs as it should have, which is why unemployment is now at 14 percent.

Alvin Casuga, edsamail.com: Mike Velarde says he will reform Erap, but with the gifts of mansions and perks, it’s he who’s been "converted."

Miguel Achacoso, hotmail.com: I’m not pro-Erap or pro-Gloria, but as a youth I believe the Silent Majority is sick and tired of all those rallies.

Raquel Vibar, netcapeonline.co.uk: Why’s Erap using taxpayer money for his propaganda? He has all chances to prove his integrity and innocence in the impeachment trial. Like a real man, he should face his accusers.

Thank you, Jimmy Perez, Victor Sumagaysay, H.C. Lee, Julio Chan, Joey Tandoc, Francisco Garcia, Victorio Matias, Bunny Arville, Gervasio Paraiso, Frank Alban, Ramon Mayuga, Lou Pasetes, Froilan Romero, Lito Manrique, Ruben Ramos, Marcos Paras Jr., Emmanuel del Mundo, Shea Relosa, Romer Benitez, Tik Fabia, Ayen Mendoza, Manny Verzosa, G.M. Guinto, Raffy Lavilla, Philip L.T., Ferdie Sibal, Mar Gatmaitan III.

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