Looking for fall guys – officially Prosecutor-in-chief Editorial, Manila Standard Today, Nov. 20, 2013 PRESSED against the limits of his competence, the irrepressible President Aquino fell back on what he does best—disavowing responsibility, passing off blame and threatening prosecution. It was hardly what the victims of super typhoon Yolanda wanted or needed to hear in the depths of their despair, but the President, if nothing else, is a creature of habit. “This is a matter that is subject of investigation,” the President said after ordering a probe into possible lapses by local government units that he said were responsible for the horrifying number of deaths in the Visayas in the wake of one of the most powerful storms to hit the planet. “I’d rather have the investigation finished before I accused anybody,” he added, much as he did so many times before over the last three years, when he used the entire machinery of government and the friendly media to hound and destroy his political enemies. The President, who was roundly criticized for delays in getting relief to the worst-hit areas, argued that the local authorities had primary responsibility as first responders. “The destructive force of this typhoon was of such a magnitude that even those personnel... were themselves victims,” he said. “So we have to admit, there was a breakdown in terms of government and there was a cascading effect.” In Tacloban City, Mayor Alfred Romualdez succinctly described the nauseating impact of Mr. Aquino’s insensitive remarks with one question: “Will we insult the dead, and say they died because they were unprepared?” He also said the national government was well aware of and approved of the preparations that the local government was undertaking before the typhoon hit, as evidenced by a message on Twitter by Mr. Aquino’s own Interior and Local Government secretary. None of this seemed to matter to the President, who, true to form, had already made up his mind to blame somebody else for his own shortcomings, with no regard for the sensibilities of the survivors. This was a far cry from what the UN country representative for the High Commissioner for Refugees, Bernard Kerblat, had in mind when he said now was not the time for bickering and finger pointing. Now, he said, was a time for all Filipinos to work together in the spirit of bayanihan. This must be difficult for Mr. Aquino to grasp, because throughout his three years in office, he has never been a President for all Filipinos. The yellow ribbon pinned to his shirt in lieu of the Philippine flag says it all – he is President and commander-in-chief only to those who support him politically. To the unfortunates who disagree with him, he is merely the prosecutor-in-chief.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 00:04:23 +0000
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