Perceptions

There were several things that surfaced during the resumption of the Senate committee hearings last August 23 on the charges of high crime lodged against Senator Panfilo Lacson. Viewed on nationwide television by millions of people, these things must have certainly contributed to the framing of interesting insights and perceptions in the minds of the televiewers.

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One perception on the Thursday hearing: That Senator Renato "Compañero" Cayetano asked the more intelligent, logical, definitive and enlightening questions. Apparently, Compañero’s questions, thrown at Col. Victor Corpus and National Bureau of Investigation Director Reynaldo Wycoco, were designed to ferret out specific facts and truth regarding the charges aired against Lacson.

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A second perception: That Senator Sergio Osmeña II, too, is really interested in finding out the truth. The questions of Serge were devoid of emotion or political undertones. They were concise, brief and definitive. To the televiewers watching the Senate proceedings, Serge appeared committed to ferreting out the facts and the truth.

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Another perception: That Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., the Senate minority floor leader, is really obsessed with his desire that procedural matters be tackled in accordance with the "rule of law" or "according to law". This jibes with Pimentel’s background and career as a longtime lawyer and law school dean. Nene’s problem, though, is that his obsession with procedure "in accordance with law" might be misinterpreted as an effort to delay the ferreting out of substantive matters or to shield Lacson.

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Another perception: That the three Senate committees did not prepare defined ground rules on how to conduct the investigation. That was the reason why there were very frequent exchanges and questions among the senators on how to proceed with the hearing. Necessarily, these contributed to slowing down the proceedings of the Senate probe.

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A fifth perception: That Senator Ralph Recto is quickly adjusting to the demands of his job as a senator and to his role as a congressional prober. Recto’s active participation in the August 23 hearing showed that he is a man to watch in the Senate. Probably, Ralph has in mind the sterling performance of his grandfather, Senator Claro M. Recto, when the Senate still towered high in the esteem of the Filipino people.

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One more perception: That the Senate can recover lost ground, insofar as its public image is concerned, if the committee hearings focus on factual issues, not on ideological matters like chain of command or command responsibility, or strategic and tactical policies. The senators should realize that the people yearn for facts, not for arguments. And of course, the people want the truth to come out at the soonest possible time.

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An additional perception: That Corpus did not act alone or on his own in undertaking the gathering and collating of intelligence information against Lacson. The ISAFP chief collaborated with other agencies of the Philippine and United States governments, and worked in tandem with ranking officials of these agencies.

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Another perception: That Ador Mawanay has not lost all shreds of credibility. Corpus’ and Wycoco’s disclosure that an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the existence of a bank account of Lacson in the US, with the information about the bank account coming from Mawanay himself.

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The emotional outburst of Benjamin Abalos, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, after a heated exchange with Rep. Magtanggol Gunigindo during a congressional hearing at the Batasang Pambansa, was expected. No man, with so many mind-boggling problems to be tackled, can forever hold his patience. Note that Ben Abalos inherited backbreaking problems, such as garbage collection, traffic jams, floods, pollution, crime, etc., that surfaced during previous MMDA administrations.

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Ben Abalos is known for his patience, for his ability to hold his temper, to keep his cool. That his blood pressure shot up at that congressional hearing must have been due to unwarranted pressure exerted upon him by Gunigundo. Hopefully, the incident at the Batasang Pambansa will prod and inspire Ben Abalos to continue the good work he has initiated as MMDA chairman.

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The flood problem in Metro Manila is something that must be given the highest priority not only by the MMDA but also by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Right now, even a brief downpour can bring floods to major traffic-choked roads. This only goes to show that Metro Manila’s drainage problem is not at all working. Whatever happened to the billions of pesos collected from the Flood Fund during the past many decades?

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Unfortunately, the MMDA and the DPWH does not apparently have funds to solve the flood problem in the metropolis. If they had money from the Flood Fund, they did not use the amount for the purpose intended. I repeat, whatever happened to the Flood Fund? Can the Commission on Audit help provide the answer?

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But then, basic things can be done to ease the flood problem. For one, the local government units must assign workers to clean the drainage pipes and must take steps to encourage citizens not to throw garbage and debris into the flood sewers. And of course, the national government, through the DPWH, must go all-out in cleaning up the creeks, rivers and esteros in the metropolis. Here, the first step is to get rid of illegal structures, especially squatter shanties, that have been built in creeks and esteros.

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Thoughts for Today:

This day, don’t try
to hold God’s hand,
let Him hold yours.
Let Him do the holding,
and you the trusting.
Have a stress-free day!

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Never get tired of doing
little things for others,
because sometimes those little
things are the big things
which are treasured forever
and kept in the heart always.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>