Pope Francis and P-Noy: two views on corruption

READERS REACT: to last Friday’s item about a commoner’s honest act versus VIPs’ plundering:

Andy Piamonte, Daet City: “Ouch! You ruined the goody-goody moment with Pope Francis in Malacañang of those pork barrel and government purchase commissioners. Or maybe they’re too callous to feel any guilt, while multitudes suffer.”

Nes Benito: “Very appreciated is the kind, honest, sincere deed of simple man Albert Julaton. To work overtime, travel such distance, and be so apologetic for delayed return of a lost phone is an act of a great man. Seeing the example, his son will grow up a good citizen of God and our country. Your sharing his story was timely for the Pope’s visit. On another note, I’m disappointed with the speech of our proud ‘student council’ President; it misfits the theme of Mercy and Compassion.”

On the Comelec midnight deal with Smartmatic that now binds the state to reuse the flawed PCOS voting machines (Gotcha, 14 Jan. 2015):

Ampilo Sevilla: ”Just thinking aloud, if the PCOS repair contract were awarded to another company, would it discover those machines to be rigged?”

D.P. Ferrer, Baler: “As you said, lawyer Sixto Brillantes is above the law, so freely negotiates behind closed doors instead of publicly bids out a P2-billion contract.”

On too many, too long holidays causing Manila port congestion (Gotcha, 12 Jan. 2015):

Rodolfo Lat, LSQC ‘70: “Please look into the so-called ‘ICC’ that Customs requires for importers to remove cargo from the port. It’s a BIR certification of no tax liability. Only 600 have been granted out of 11,000 ICC applicants, who now face forfeiture of their goods. Meanwhile the finance department points its fingers at others for causing the logjam.”

On Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala being cleared of the garlic scam (Gotcha, 9 Jan. 2015):

Boy Palacol: “He outfoxes everyone every time. Perhaps he contributes much to the Liberal Party campaign war chest.”

Francisco Lirio: “You forgot to recount the scale-insect infestation that wiped out coconut trees in Batangas. He didn’t act, despite countless pleas, because no money was to be made from it.”

Thank you too to Dante Enriquez, Ben Hur Ong, Antonio Go, Neil McNally, Mon M., Nicholas Rivas, Manuel C., R. Ramos, Ron Bruer, Ferdinand Viola, Jerry Quibilan, Ron Swart, Alexander Po, Monsie Guingona-David, Ignacio Manalili, Ben Peczon, and those forgot to or signed only with phone numbers.

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“One spoke of fighting corruption, the other of the silence of the church in the face of corruption. That’s how a spokesman sees President Noynoy Aquino’s inapt dig at Catholic clerics during Pope Francis’ call at Malacañang Friday.

The Holy Father had implored the high political leaders present “to reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the poor.”

To which P-Noy retorted to the other half of the crowd, the church hierarchs: “There was a true test of faith when many members of the church, once advocates for the poor, the marginalized and the helpless, suddenly became silent in the face of the previous administration’s abuses, which we are still trying to rectify to this very day.”

One wonders if P-Noy was generalizing. Did he refer to three of 130 bishops (2.3 percent) who spoke no evil of ex-President Gloria Arroyo because (as exposed here in 2010) they received SUVs from her charity sweepstakes?

Then again does P-Noy really want the clergy to speak out on political issues? Did not his spokesmen twit the bishops for opposing his Reproductive Health Act? Most devout Catholics supported the bill in conscience, even when mocked by some bishops, like the one in Baguio who misquoted it to intend to teach grade schoolers the sex act. The bill passed; its supporters remain church reformers. But P-Noy’s spokesmen, unable to admit poor communicating, still resent the whole clergy.

Perhaps P-Noy was too touchy, as he even recounted how one bishop teased years ago that he wear a wig. Did he have to point up that prelate’s or his triviality in front of foreign dignitaries?

Speaking of rectifying past abuses, what could P-Noy have meant? Was it Arroyo officials’ billion-peso overpricing of rice imports? That went on under P-Noy’s agriculture chief, and even expanded to garlic and onion. Was it the past shoddy maintenance of commuter trains? At least Arroyo’s men didn’t raise fares. P-Noy’s replacements did – after transferring the maintenance to P-Noy’s ruling Liberal Party mates. Was it Arroyo’s treasonous letting of China to explore Manila’s territorial seabed? P-Noy’s men now grant metal mining for China to fabricate weapon and surveillance systems against the Philippines. Was it the use of heinous crime convicts for special missions, like a 2007 plot to silence the exposers of the NBN-ZTE scam? Today 20 percent of high-profile assassinations, narco-trade, kidnapping for ransom, robbery, protection racket, illegal gambling, and money laundering are masterminded by Very Important Prisoners. Was it the old plundering of pork barrels? The Supreme Court has had to stop it under P-Noy’s tenure.

And what’s the status of Arroyo’s criminal cases? (Two issues for which she and husband Mike were exposed here – the NBN-ZTE and chopper scams – are being heard at the Sandiganbayan.) P-Noy had arrested her for electoral fraud, but continues to jail her for P400-million plunder of the sweepstakes. Yet her supposed co-conspirators have been cleared. Should that not mean she too must be released, or at least her hearings sped up instead of frequently postponed by ever changing prosecutors? Justice and humanitarian reasons – Arroyo is gravely ill – so dictate. Does not denial of speedy trial and humane treatment smack of Marcos’ martial-law cruelty?

P-Noy recalled being a first-hand victim of Marcos’ goons when, in assassinating his father Sen. Ninoy Aquino, they deprived his family of a husband and father. Actually, so did a thousand other families he forgot to mention, whose members were abducted, tortured, killed, and buried in unmarked graves – not counting plain or separatist Moros. P-Noy scolded the clergy that allegedly kept mum during that dark period. Yet in truth it was mostly priests and nuns who imperiled themselves by embracing Liberation Theology, or giving sanctuary to those who chose to fight Marcos in the country instead of abroad.

So much for the inapt welcome for a state visitor. Rightly, it was Pope Francis’ anti-corruption, pro-poor plea to politicos that stuck in Filipinos’ minds. Francis noted too that poverty and migration for jobs are destroying the family. So true under a regime of jobless economic growth, with overseas workers fooled to line up for airport terminal fee refunds at booths that are seldom manned.

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