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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| No Politics Kuno By Antonio C. Abaya July 10, 2003 An item in the June 22 issue of Today reported that President Arroyo had met with NPC chairman and presidential wannabe Danding Cojuangco but that Mrs. Arroyo claimed that their meeting had nothing to do with politics. Really? A subsequent item in the July 4 issue of the same newspaper reported that President Arroyo met with Cojuangco the previous day at Villamor Air Base, but, said one Lakas congressman known to be close to Cojuangco, �Politics was not on the agenda; nothing of that sort was taken up at the meeting�.� Why do politicians feel compelled to tell these little white lies that no one believes, anyway? To say that GMA and Cojuangco met twice within a period of 12 days but did not discuss politics is like claiming that Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon met twice without discussing the intifada. Blowing smoke to try and cover up the meetings merely feeds the speculation that the two political animaux extraordinaires are in the process of conjuring up something that can blow your socks away. The key question is who is using whom, or who is planning to use whom, for his/her personal and political advantage? Is Cojuangco merely feeling out the actual intentions of GMA in 2004? Or is he maneuvering to be her vice-presidential candidate (if she decides to run), or to be the Lakas presidential candidate (if she decides not to)? Is GMA dangling the VP position before Cojuangco in exchange for his financial and political support in 2004? Or is she actually opening the doors to the presidency itself for Cojuangco, in exchange for je-ne-sais-quoi? Political animals never do anything political for nothing. ***** This early, it is very likely that a tentative proposal may have been broached that should GMA run for re-election, her running mate would be Danding Cojuangco. One indication of this is the sudden rise and equally sudden fall of Sen. Robert Barbers. Barbers has been trying to be vice-president since at least 1992, by publicly announcing his availability for the position, and also publicly announcing that if the President were to appoint him to a high-profile position, he would accept. Obviously, in furtherance of his ambition to be vice-president (In the 1990s, he managed to get himself appointed anti-crime czar by President Ramos, by promising that he would wipe out crime �in seven months or I will resign.� Needless to say, he was not able to wipe out crime in seven months � not even Jesus Christ could have done that � but he did not resign.) In 2003, Barbers publicly announced that if GMA were to appoint him anti-drug czar, he would accept. President Arroyo swallowed his bait and named him to that high-profile position, only to cut him down to size less than a week later, apparently after someone whispered to her that she was, in effect, naming her vice-president in 2004. So it can be assumed that the VP slot is being reserved for someone who has both the financial resources and the political muscle � which Barbers obviously does not have; only Cojuangco does - to ensure victory in 2004. ***** Another straw in the political wind is the recent revelation that Malacanang offered, as early as last March, a government-controlled seat in the board of San Miguel Corporation to former Senator, quintessential trapo and known Cojuangco ally, Ernesto Maceda, who has confirmed the offer. Only the objections of PCGG Chair Haydee Yorac and her deputy Ruben Carranza Jr., who were officially informed of the insidious offer only last May, not coincidentally while Yorac was in hospital recovering from a stroke, put a damper on the �gift� to Cojuangco. The conclusion is hard to avoid that it is President Arroyo who is wooing Cojuangco, not the other way around. And wooing for what? Certainly not for the presidential slot, as there would be no political logic to that. Furthermore, the recent lamentation of Senator and presidential wannabe Panfilo Lacson that Cojuangco is reneging on his (Cojunagco�s) earlier support for his (Lacson�s) presidential candidacy shows that even Lacson is convinced that Cojuangco is weighing a deal with President Arroyo, and what deal could that possibly be other than to be her vice-presidential running mate in 2004, in exchange for his financial and political support? Would this be a plus or a minus for President Arroyo? Obviously, she thinks and hopes it will be a plus. But teaming up with Cojuangco is going to cost her moral demerits that could tilt the balance against her. She would be sleeping with the enemy, in the eyes of those who risked their lives in the struggle against the Marcos kleptocracy. She would lose the support of much of the middle class, civil society would be totally disillusioned with her, Cardinal Sin would likely feel betrayed after having �insisted� that she should run, whatever Corystas are left would likely disown her, and she may suffer some high level resignations from her Cabinet, assuming there are still men and women in it who are guided by moral values. Her expressed desire to start a �revolution in the way we do and think politics and economics� would become utterly worthless. How does this square with the decision of the Sandigambayan on July 11 that Cojuangco had illegally acquired the United Coconut Planters Bank, and through it his controlling shares in San Miguel Corporation, with coconut levy funds that rightfully belonged to coconut farmers? It is likely that in the two meetings between President Arroyo and Cojuangco noted in the June 22 and July 4 issues of Today, during which supposedly politics were not discussed, there was no agreement reached, meaning Cojuangco declined to be GMA�s running mate in 2004. Was it only a coincidence that, one week later, the Sandigambayan moved against Cojuangco? Maybe, yes. Maybe, no. Whatever the motivation, it is a welcome development. After all, this has been percolating on the back-burner for more than 15 years. It is about time it was brought out into the open and made to come to a boil even if it should become a political issue in 2004. So also with the Supreme Court ruling that the Marcoses� $682 million, being held in escrow by the Philippine National Bank, constitutes ill-gotten wealth that cannot be accounted for by their combined salaries during their tenure as public officials and which must therefore be forfeited in favor of the state.. These two developments, plus the Arroyo Government�s newly invigorated exposes of unexplained wealth in the hands of BIR and Customs officials, rekindle hope that some headway can be made against the culture of corruption that has sapped the morale of this country for decades. President Arroyo and her team are to be congratulated for their new initiatives. If she maintains this through the next few months and even comes up with some high-profile indictments, she will recover the moral high ground and will be forgiven for trying to woo Cojunagco to be her running mate. ***** The bulk of this article was submitted to the Philippines Free Press on July 10 and July 16 but was not published. |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �No Politics Kuno� Thanks much for this insightful piece. Am sharing it with all my friends. More power to you. Angie G Coll�s-Dean, [email protected] July 23, 2003 �����������������������������. my bet is, danding went "fishing" for pgma's intentions in 2004. i don't think pgma would offer to team up with danding, if indeed she intends to run next year. teaming up with somebody so close to marcos and erap would be nothing short of political suicide for pgma as far as civil society is concerned. Eben Ramos y Lopez, [email protected] July 23, 2003 ��������������������������� Very interesting, Tony. I must tell you that I look forward to receiving and reading the columns you write. Ruben Carranza, Jr., [email protected] Deputy Commissioner, PCGG July 23, 2003 �����������������������������. Yes, I believe that she is counting all her eggs in the basket.......... Mr. A........I like Gloria a lot. She has done much for your country bringing it into the light of the globe. She cannot tell all her plans as you and I in life also do not tell everyone what we want to do and plan. The reason being the opposition. I enjoy reading your articles. Thank you....... Andra Al. Stone, [email protected] Texas, July 23, 2003 ����������������������������� Morally going after Cojunkie smells good for the middle class only. Gloria's has got to get Al=Ghozi and go after the police crooks. That would impress the masa, partly, I must add, because the stupid masa simply wants entertainment like Noli de Castro or Fernando Poe. Ross Tipon, [email protected] Baguio City, July 24, 2003 ���������������������������� Tony where do we go from here? what else is left for the Pinoys to believe in ? maybe the renegade soldiers were a "desperate lot" who did not know what else to do.. and had no idea where to turn for honest leadership.. eagerly await your nest article... Dominic Tambuatco, [email protected] Georgia, July 28, 2003 MY REPLY. The renegade soldiers were not a �desperate lot� who did not know what else to do� and had no idea where to turn to for honest leadership�.� They were nothing but mercenaries whose idealism was for rent to politicians out to grab power for themselves. Where would junior officers from poor-to-middle class families have found the money to buy the P30 million worth of radio equipment seized from their command center at Room 1805 of Oakwood Hotel? OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |