The 1st day of the 1st 100 days of Pres. Aquino
This is the first day of the Presidency of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Aside from having to complete his still to be completed cabinet, Pres. Noy announced the creation of a Truth Commission, which will be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. This commish would investigate all the wrongdoings of the Arroyo Administration. How this commish can achieve its goals, we shall have to wait for Davide to come up with his team, because surely this is not a one-man commission. But there is no doubt that this commission would take a lot of headline space in the next 100 days of the Aquino Administration. This is just the first day.
For us in Cebu, the appointment of Mr. Rene Almendras as Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary is the most welcome appointment (though he wasn’t appointed because he is a Cebuano, but rather because he was the President’s classmate) in the Aquino Administration, especially because of the unfinished business of Cebuanos having to pay higher gasoline pump prices than Metro Manila, by an average of P8 per liter. Rene was the Cebu Holdings Corp. top man years back, but because of his good performance, the Ayalas brought him to Manila.
While it’s common knowledge that Cebu was very important to former Pres. Gloria Arroyo, however when we went to the Congressional hearing on Energy about our high fuel prices here in Cebu, her DoE Sec. Angelo Reyes sounded more like the lawyers of the Big 3 Oil companies. Indeed, when the lawyers of the Big 3 Oil companies came up with their statements, it sounded like a copy of the DoE report!
Somehow, even PGMA couldn’t pressure Angie Reyes to even look or sound neutral on this issue. This is why until now this problem is still unsolved two years after we complained about this during a Cabinet meeting. So now this problem is in the hands of Rene Almendras, whom I’m sure will not be taking the side of the Big 3 Oil companies. But I should warn him that many of the former DoE Secretary’s are still there, helping out the oil industry, instead of the Filipino people.
One still unfilled Cabinet position is the Secretary for the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), which was then held by our dear friend, the late Sec. Cerge M. Remonde. I really don’t know why this position remains unfulfilled, but if I have to make a suggestion, my neighbor, Mr. Leo Lastimosa who used to work with Cerge is the right man for this job. I really thought that Leo was in their shortlist. Unfortunately, my suggestion is of no consequence under the Noynoy Administration because we didn’t vote for him in the last elections.
Meanwhile, certain pundits are saying that the Aquino administration still has to get its act together, that it has been delayed due to the elbowing or infighting in getting the juicy government positions. But Pres. Noynoy should first prioritize Electoral Reforms if he truly wants to fix this country. Today we are seeing an exodus from the Nacionalista Party (NP) to the Liberal Party (LP) who, without a doubt, will be the dominant political party at least in the next six years. Already, Congressman Tomas Osmeña is raising hell, scared that the One Cebu Political Party has already been accepted under the wing of Rep. Sonny Belmonte. Thus, he vowed to block the One Cebu Party from joining the LP.
But whether he likes it or not, the One Cebu Party is a big bloc. At this time when the LP needs the numbers to ensure that Sonny Belmonte gets the House Speakership, Tomas Osmeña just can’t stop the One Cebu from entering into some kind of coalition with the LP in Congress. What we need here are political reforms or laws that should make political butterflies extinct in our political landscape. If Pres. Noynoy Aquino truly wants reforms in this country, he can start with electoral reforms.
Lastly, in what seems like an up and coming clash, the Manila Times last Tuesday came up with a banner headline, “Higher Taxes Top NEDA List.” This story emanated from Augusto Santos, acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary who said that NEDA will submit its strategic Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) calling for bigger infrastructure spending, expansion of conditional cash transfer and higher taxes. Hmmm, did he say higher taxes? Apparently, this is in the books.
But we all know that one of the very first political promises that then candidate Noynoy Aquino made before the Makati Business Club (MBC) was “No New Taxes!” When asked about this many times by the media, Noynoy would merely say, “Read my lips, Now new taxes!” I believe that Pres. Noynoy Aquino would never dare back away from his word and would definitely veto any plans by NEDA to raise takes.
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