Mixed signals

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo, widely perceived as the real power behind the Department of Foreign Affairs, released an interesting statement yesterday. The issue in the search for the next DFA chief, Romulo said, is not who is qualified but who can serve as President Arroyo’s "implementor" of foreign policy.

They should have made that clear to Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. before he assumed the top DFA post last year: the secretary of foreign affairs merely implements the policies of "architect" GMA.

And after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, the President should have enunciated her foreign affairs policy to her chief implementor. Instead she made it clear only yesterday, and not even before DFA personnel or the diplomatic community, but before the Philippine National Police:

"I shall make sure we strengthen the international linkages that would enable us to fight terrorism and uphold the law everywhere," she said. "I am placing foreign policy at the service of our fight against homegrown terrorism and criminality and lawlessness… "

Anyone who can’t go along with that need not apply as DFA chief. Interested applicants also must bone up on the "eight realities of our foreign policy environment," among which is the recognition of "the paramount influence of China, Japan and the United States in the security and economic evolution of East Asia."

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I bet the President’s PNP audience nearly fell asleep after all those heavy words. Then again, would she have dared enunciate her policy in plain English? We will continue seeking American help in fighting not only terrorists but also ordinary crooks. Let’s face it: China, Japan and the US are the major players in East Asian security and economic development. Even if it means she’ll have to take on the DFA portfolio herself.

Oh well, this administration isn’t good at sending out clear signals. Yesterday there was some confusion when the President ordered her secretary of transportation and communications, newly retired police Director General Leandro Mendoza, to straighten out the traffic mess and go after smugglers at Customs.

So who’s now in charge of traffic: Mendoza, the PNP Traffic Management Group or the Metro Manila Development Authority? I bet we’ll end up with no one in charge.

Customs? Isn’t that under the Department of Finance? Oh yes, the Coast Guard goes after smugglers in our territorial waters. But with that presidential mandate, will Mendoza be allowed to poke his nose into Customs port operations?

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As for Mendoza’s successor in the PNP, newly promoted Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., he was given a year to end kidnapping and drug trafficking. That, I fear, is short of telling Ebdane he’ll have to bow out after one year, to make way for one of those Malacañang protégés eagerly waiting in the wings. Ebdane can minimize kidnapping and drug trafficking, but there’s no way he can stamp them out completely, especially with elections approaching.

To add to the confusion, the President abolished the National Anti-Crime Commission and the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force headed by Ebdane, but created yet another task force. This new one, to be headed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is supposed to assist Ebdane in the fight against kidnappers and drug lords. Obviously the President was impressed by the Time magazine feature on Duterte and his controversial campaign to rid his city of criminals.

Duterte is notorious for his extrajudicial methods of dealing with crooks. I know there are people so desperate about rising criminality that they wouldn’t mind learning about thugs being summarily executed. But by appointing Duterte to the task force, was the President telling Ebdane and the PNP that she likes that kind of law enforcement? Why, the cops will have a field day; that’s their area of expertise.

What sort of creature is this new task force? Will it have its own men? Will it go after cops involved in kidnapping and drug dealing? Will it dare go after Rodolfo Mendoza, the President’s personal choice as police commander of her home province, Pampanga? Boogie Mendoza (no relation to Larry Mendoza), if I remember right, has been accused by the Tsinoy community of involvement in kidnappings. If the President trusts him so much, will the Tsinoys take her anti-kidnapping campaign seriously?

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For now, with foreign policy behind her drive against criminality, plus tough-talking Mayor Duterte thrown in, President GMA is clearly focusing on peace and order, long perceived as her weak point. If her boys at the forefront of the campaign fail to deliver, I have no doubt that they will go the way of Tito Guingona.

The President is gearing for war — not just against criminality, but also for the battle of her life in 2004. If the peace and order situation does not improve in one year, she knows the opposition will have a strong contender in the person of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, head of the opposition, told me the other day that they’re now working to pick a common standard bearer. "I think we will succeed in uniting behind one candidate," he said.

He also predicted a clean sweep for the opposition in 2004. They’ve been going around the country, he said, and the people are mad as hell: "Galit na galit ang tao."

At this point we should take such predictions with a grain of salt. By the time the campaign period starts, after all, President GMA would have had a three-year head start over her rivals.

Of course if she bungles big-time, that head start could also be her undoing. So she’s rushing to fix everything that needs fixing. After the economy, it’s criminality. She better make sure she doesn’t get her signals mixed up.

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VERY GENERAL PATRONAGE: Shopping mall managers should crack down on their cinema operators. At SM Megamall, even infants are allowed inside the moviehouse showing Scooby-Doo. A mother carrying her six-month-old baby said she was allowed entry after paying full price for the child. What if a baby starts wailing inside the cinema? And what if there’s a stampede?

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OOPS… It’s pulis pangkalawakan, not pangkalahatan.