selective prosecution of those implicated in the pork barrel scandal is catching up with Noynoy as even those considered to be neutral observers are now raising the possibility of unrest with the stubborn shielding of administration allies implicated in the controversy. The double-standard of the Palace in dealing with the issue is much too obvious. Even those considered as sacrificial lambs get the benefit of the doubt and are defended to the hilt while those considered as opponents become the subject of “truckloads” of evidence complete with full media coverage portraying them as guilty. The line between the claimed good governance initiative of Noynoy and political persecution has been crossed in the process with little pretension on the equal application of justice. It is hard to dispute the obvious. The plunder charges were filed against only three opposition senators, Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., while there were at least 100 members of Congress including 18 senators named as having transacted with the syndicate of alleged pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles. Napoles herself, in a sworn statement tagged Budget Secretary Butch Abad as her mentor in putting up the non-government organizations that would form as the conduits to siphon off the discretionary funds of legislators known as the Priority Development Assistance Faund (PDAF). The racket covered 10 full years, based on the testimony of the members of the syndicate who mostly became state witnesses despite their being major players and most guilty, in the scam. Even the PDAF itself as a lump sum fund was painstakingly defended by Noynoy saying that the fund is not evil in itself but the Supreme Court dismissed his argument as it ruled the fund as unconstitutional. The argument in favor of PDAF, however, has a bearing on his own lump sum funds which are immensely bigger than the legislative lump sums. Aside from his discretionary funds in the budget, his administration also created the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that pooled and legalized the juggling of funds in the budget. The DAP is also in great danger of being declared unconstitutional by the tribunal similar to the PDAF although the SC is said to go really easy on Noynoy and his aides. The call of the public is to make accountable all those who have benefitted from the scam with Noynoy equating his approbation to immunity from being liable in the PDAF controversy. Noynoy’s allies were not even required to temporarily vacate their posts to allow an impartial investigation into the allegations against them, since none was forthcoming with the shield Noynoy had provided them. The narration of Napoles also becomes a fabrication when it comes to the accusations against his allies but credible when it involves the opposition targets. The two sets of rules of Noynoy have evolved into an issue itself as a reflection of the sham integrity campaign that only has a self-serving political goal. The protest against Noynoy had similarly developed from a partisan action which merely involves members of the political opposition to a movement with wide representation largely consisting of those against all forms of pork barrel funds. The call is for Noynoy to discard all forms of discretionary funds in the budget and those created outside of it. The same principle applies to those involved in the pork scam, the accountability for which should not discriminate against political or personal affiliations. Failing to do that, Noynoy and his hypocritical campaign are now the target of the protest movement. Now with the opposition leaders behind bars soon, the likely shift would be on Noynoy’s capability of making his allies accountable. Unrest comes if he insists that he and his allies are beyond corruptibility. Published in Editorial
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 03:04:02 +0000