SCANDAL WITHIN A SCANDAL By Philip Jr Lustre The creation of a scandal within the P10-billion pork barrel scandal is part of the strategy of the main culprits in the pork barrel scam. Since the first weeks the pork barrel scandal was on the front pages of major dailies, the major suspects, particularly Jinggoy Estrada, have been bullishly pushing to project publicly that the Aquino administration is as guilty as the lawmakers involved in the scam. The creation of a scandal within a scandal is the choice the main suspects have engaged to prevent putting themselves purely on the defensive. By projecting that the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) is a scandal rivalling the misuse of the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund, the main suspects could take off the heat from them. The creation of a scandal within a scandal complements the tu quoque strategy, where Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla have launched their bitterest counteroffensive by blaming every administration official and institution for their misfortune but themselves. In their limited view, they could sway the public to believe that the Aquino administration has no moral right to pursue the plunder and graft charges against them. But the pork barrel scam has underlying issues and dynamics that do not easily appear visible to the naked eye. In most opinions aired and published by traditional and non-traditional media, the public seems convinced on their involvement in the pork barrel scam because of their own doing – their continued refusal and inability to explain fully the details surrounding the use of their own pork barrel funds. They had poured the largest amounts to the fake NGOs identified with Janet Napoles, yet they have not answered these fundamental questions: What did they do to the more than P600 million in PDAF which Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Bong Revilla each received in 2007, 2008, and 2009? What happened to the money? Where did they place them? Which organizations or agencies – public or private – received them? How much did each organization or agency receive? Who were the beneficiaries of the state funds, which were supposed to go to their pet projects? The lawmakers have not addressed them. Neither did they answer the the special audit reports the Commission on Audit had completed to show their misuse of their pork barrel funds. They could not rebuff the statements of whistleblower Benhur Luy, which have named them as the main beneficiaries of the pork barrel scandal. Instead, they have embarked on a counteroffensive by launching vitriolic attacks to gain the upper hand in the ongoing propaganda war to gain public sympathy. When everything seems to have failed, they drumbeat the DAP’s unconstitutionality as if it is another scandal, using retired academics like Liling Briones and Ben Diokno as cannon fodders. Liling Briones had the gall to say that the nation should be thankful to Jinggoy because he “exposed” DAP in the Senate. The unconstitutionality of DAP is not a scandal unlike PDAF. The use of DAP involved a question of law, unlike PDAF, which was stolen and pocketed by the honorable senators, particularly Estrada, Revilla, and Enrile. The use of DAP was in good faith – to spur economic growth through increased government spending on major projects. There was no good faith in the PDAF scandal. The lawmakers were moved by the evil intention to steal the money, using every conceivable way to hide their crimes from the eyes of the people. Secretary Butch Abad did a heroic job to pump prime the national economy. Enrile, Estrada and Revilla were never concerned about pump priming the economy. They did nothing in term of legislation to stimulate the economy. They were busy raiding the national coffers because they were more concerned with their pockets. Because of their preoccupation on their loot, they have forgotten to provide details and proof of any wrongdoing on DAP. They did not care about it. It was the least of their concern. Does DAP constitute a scandal within a scandal? The main suspects have no proof it was stolen or raided; the issue involved its constitutionality and nothing more. How could it be a scandal?
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 07:16:43 +0000
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