No wonder our gov’t is confused: Nobody knows who’s boss

My mouth was agape, I must say, when I saw and heard Executive Secretary – alias General, former Defense Secretary and ex-Batangas congressman – Ed Ermita declaring yesterday on television (ANC-ABS/CBN) – that Police Director Arturo C. Lomibao, PNP’s Chief Directorial Staff – couldn’t have gotten this third "star", making him a Lieutenant General because that "promotion" hadn’t been cleared through his office.

Sanamagan. I didn’t now the President and Commander-in-Chief had to get General Ermita’s permission to promote any officer in our PNP or Armed Forces – I though GMA was the boss. And to think that Lomibao had spoken to the President on her cellphone!

Oh well. Lomibao better not sport that third "star", lest the wrath of Ermita fall on his head.

As for the rumor that Lomibao (PMA ’72) might be the next PNP Chief, when our friend, General Edgar Batalla Aglipay (PMA ’71) retires next Sunday, March 13 – his birthday – nobody claims it’s a done deal.

But the President has got to announce her choice before Sunday, which means today, or tomorrow – perhaps when she presides over the Graduation rites of the Sanlingan "Honor" Class 2005 of the Philippine Military Academy. Egay has been in Europe, attending an Interpol conference in the Netherlands, so – thus far – he has not spoken about the "succession" question.

What I notice is that there is a determined propaganda effort, on television, radio, and in print media to "position" the very junior Police Director Avelino "Sonny" L. Razon Jr., the NCR Police Regional Director, as a contender.

The argument being fielded – as it was on TV once more yesterday (obviously planted) – is that Sonny Razon belongs to PMA Class ’74, and therefore would have three more years or more before his retirement if he were designated Police Chief.

What bothers me and a great many others is that Sonny has been conducting such a razmatazz media blitz, an extremely high-profile campaign to grab the PNP top post. Anybody who seems that hungry for promotion to national Police Chief sets alarm bells ringing.

Moreover, it’s no secret that Razon was – and is – one of former Fidel V. Ramos’s favorites, not just when he was Eddie Ramos’s Presidential Security Group head, but even after FVR had relinquished the Presidency. (As was Ed Ermita, a certified member of the FVR loyalists).

I’m not saying that Razon is a bad guy – but one wonders, di ba? There are obviously wheels within wheels in this government – and riptides of intrigue and power struggles over turf within that Puzzle Palace called Malacañang.

I remember when the President (yes, her name is GMA, therefore Boss Lady) signed the re-appointment of our STAR Opinion Page Editor, Ben Bernales, to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

She did so upon my written recommendation (as she had suggested herself that I send a written note to her on the matter). After I had, hesitantly, reminded her of it at our Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) dinner which she hosted in the Palace, the President rummaged through her papers, signed Bernales’ re-appointment, then had it sent down to Executive Secretary Ermita’s office.

There, in Ermita’s office, it seems to have disappeared without a trace. I know, because Ben rang me up and reported that his "sources" had informed him "somebody" had blocked it there. Who? I’ll never know.

A week later, as I was leaving for India on the invitation of the Indian Government, I telephoned Bernales to inform him of my travel schedules and how I would be sending my columns to him from New Delhi, etc. It was only then that Ben told me he was going on sick leave. He explained he had to check into the hospital, so Ramon Lim would temporarily be taking over.

"Why Ben?" I exclaimed. He had never complained before of being ill.

Ben said he was being "checked" for possible liver cancer. I replied, "Oh my God… I’m sorry. God bless you Ben – get well, I’ll be praying for you!"

That’s the last time I ever spoke with Ben. While I was still abroad, he went into a coma – and succumbed to his disease. I didn’t even get to his burol or attend his funeral. How strange life is! And how treacherous death, which often comes, as the old expression goes, "like a thief in the night."

Ben Bernales was a fine, hardworking editor. Sure, there were mistakes, proofreading, copyreading errors encountered during the years he edited the Opinion pages, but that’s one of the travails of print media provoked by the reams of material our editors have to cope with daily.

Ben was a very religious man – I recall what he asked for when I was in Poland a few months ago, one of the bastions of the Catholic faith in Europe. In a telephone call in which I was verbally revising one of my columns sent to the office, I asked Ben what he’d like me to bring home for him as a pasalubong. To my surprise – well, I shouldn’t have been surprised, really – he asked: "Sir, bring me home a crucifix."

God bless you, Ben! We all know you’re up there with Jesus, among the real stars – in heaven!

However, Ben Bernales never got his re-appointment to the MTRCB (board). Sanamagan.

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Yesterday’s front page photo shows the usual . . . I won’t call them culprits . . . politicians joining hands after forging a truce between the Senate and House of Representatives to end their acrimonious word war over "pork barrel".

Of course our legislators, led by Speaker Sunshine Joe de Venecia and Senate President Franklin Drilon, kissed and made up. This restored honeymoon, on the other hand, doesn’t help the Filipino people’s budget. The members of the House may have reduced their annual CDF (pork barrel) funds to P40 million per congressman, from P70 million per annum, and the Senators their "pork" from an immense P200 million per senator per year, to a still huge P100 million per Senator annually, but that stupid pork giveaway candy-store is still squandering the poor taxpayers’ money for the self-gratification of our. . . er, solons.

We admire those stalwarts, Senator Fred Lim, Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson – and more recently, Senate President Franklin Drilon who joined the previous duo in rejecting his "pork barrel" allocation – for declaring they will not accept or use a centavo of this annual bonanza.

The Leftwing congressmen, including party-list, were the most adamant in insisting that their "pork" was necessary. I hope they’re funding the proper causes, or are they underwriting . . . you know what?

Don’t worry, the right-wingers and dynasts were right alongside with their radical Lefty brethren in demanding their multi-million peso pork "rations". It’s a conspiracy of Left and Right.

Money, money, money as the song goes . . . how did it go?

And to think that the taxpayers are being taxed more heavily this year – because the government needs money. Truly, we all must pay more taxes, and we’re willing. However, it’s disheartening to see where our legislators are channeling too much of the taxes we pay. In the case of Robin Hood, he robbed the rich to give to the poor. In the case of our lawmakers, are they taxing the middle class and even the poor to give to their own "favorite" poor?