We’re not stupid, PENOY! AT an Asian press forum this week, President Aquino gave lip service to the need for the press to speak truth to power. Let us speak the truth plainly, then, Mr. President. You must think Filipinos are a stupid, gullible lot who will believe anything that you or your arrogant spokespersons say. The biggest lie from the Palace last week was that the woman accused of bilking billions of pesos from government coffers, Janet Lim Napoles, enjoyed no special treatment when she surrendered. Let’s examine the chronology and see how well or how poorly the Palace claim conforms with the facts. Some time after 9 p.m. Wednesday, Napoles, who had been in hiding since Aug. 15, emerged from a cemetery where she was fetched by the presidential spokesman, the deputy presidential spokeswoman and an undersecretary from the communications group. She rode a government vehicle provided by the secretary of the Interior, along with her husband, her lawyer and the Cabinet officials who picked her up. Her two-vehicle convoy, complete with motorcycle-riding policemen, arrived at the Palace at 9:37 p.m. Entering the Palace, Napoles and her husband went through the regular security checks, and was checked by a doctor when she complained of palpitations. She and her entourage then went up to the receiving room on the second floor where she was received by the President, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, Presidential Communication Development Secretary Ramon Carandang, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, and national police chief Alan Purisima. The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes, and the Palace insists that all they discussed was the need to protect Napoles from threats to her life. Following the meeting, President Aquino left ahead for police headquarters in Camp Crame to inspect the premises and to make sure that her detention room was safe. Throughout this process, Napoles was never handcuffed. On the way to Camp Crame for booking, she rode with the presidential spokesman, while the rest of the Cabinet officials except for the executive secretary also joined the convoy in their respective cars. On Thursday night, when Napoles was to be transferred to the Makati City Jail, Cabinet officials led by Roxas, with members of the Palace communications group in tow, were again on hand to greet her. And, when the Makati court agreed to a defense petition to move Napoles to a police camp in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the Justice Department raised no objection. To justify this kind of solicitous behavior, the presidential spokesman had to dig deep into the country’s history to find two long-dead presidents – Manuel Quezon (president from 1935-1944) and Ramon Magsaysay (1953-1957) – who had personally accepted the surrender of rebels. But of course, the well-heeled Napoles is no surrendering rebel bent on overthrowing or defying the government. Ordinary criminals—even those accused of kidnapping and plunder–do not get a tete-a-tete with the President of the republic. They do not get escorted by Cabinet members to their places of detention. And they do not have the President in the advance party to make sure that their cell is up to snuff. We are not stupid, Mr. President. Even if there were a real threat to Napoles’ life, we fail to see how you and the members of your Cabinet were needed to personally protect and escort her. No special treatment? Go tell that to the Marines. Oh wait—you already did that when you also met with Napoles’ husband, a retired Marine colonel. manilastandardtoday/2013/09/02/were-not-stupid-mr-president/
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 00:30:58 +0000
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