BY ROMMEL YNION
IF we step inside P-Noy’s brain and look at the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) issue through it, we can try to see how he looks at this issue that has rocked this country for months now.
Simply put, this is how it seems to appear to him: Since he is the only one who is honest, he now has the right to plan through his budget secretary how the over Php 150 billion should be spent only through his allies in government and in the business world.
Truth be told, this world-view seems to be at the core of DAP. Just because P-Noy thinks he has the moral ascendancy over the rest of humanity, he alone is morally capable of handling billions of taxpayers’ money to avert corruption. Is this right? Does this even make sense? Is this kind of attitude acceptable to the government of laws that is supposed to run this country?
Take for instance this case of the Php 10 billion of DAP money alley-ooped to his favored contractor in Tarlac who slam-dunked his way to infrastructure projects without even a semblance of a bidding. How could he allow that amount of taxpayers’ money rammed down the throat of a contractor who has reportedly been doing all his projects since his days as a congressman? Isn’t this already prima facie evidence of irregularity?
Let us linger in P-Noy’s brain and try to read his thoughts. The enormity of it all: Php 10 billion of DAP money only left to just one contractor. What, in God Almighty’s name, is so special about that contractor that P-Noy could just entrust to him that kind of taxpayers’ money even without a bidding? Not even press releases issued to the media informing the public about it which is normally the case, considering the magnitude of it all.
Even projects, only amounting to Php 200 million in Iloilo City even came with a bang in media, reported in the air waves and front-pages of local newspapers and even national dailies. Why? Because such largesse from Malacañang cannot simply go unnoticed.
The Php 100-million Iloilo Convention Center was even egregiously reported in media as a PDAF-funded project from Sen. Frank Drilon. Although reports regarding that were quite misleading, it was, at least, reported as a project funded by the national government. That is a semblance of transparency, to say the least.
As we all know now, the case of that Tarlac contractor is just the tip of the iceberg. Over Php 150 billion of taxpayers’ money frittered all over the country arbitrarily by Malacañang again without the knowledge of Congress, let alone the public, on other projects all cloaked in secrecy. All they could say was all of them perked up the economy. But how? Are there numbers to at least substantiate this claim?
Yes, the order of the day was secrecy.
But why in secrecy? If, indeed, there was good faith, why did it have to be kept secret? Was it because Malacañang knew from the start that there was something wrong with it that they had to keep people in the dark about it? Was it because P-Noy knew that he would get into trouble once the nation gets wind of its existence if at all?
For instance, if DAP was designed to perk up the economy, what does this have to do with giving over Php 450 million to Hacienda Luisita alone as compensation for it from the Department of Agrarian Reform? By the way, the Supreme Court only ruled that over Php 225 million be given to Hacienda Luisita; but, thanks to P-Noy and DAP, the amount was doubled. Is this just? And isn’t this a case of conflict of interests?
Yes, we are still in P-Noy’s brain ferreting out the reasons why he allowed DAP to be the tsunami wreaking havoc on his presidency. Okay, let us take a look at that particular case labeled “Mangrove Farming”. Hundreds of millions went to this as well. Whether it was spent honestly or not is beside the point. The point simply is: Now that the Commission on Audit has been asked by Sen. Frank Drilon to audit all DAP expenses, how can mangroves be audited? This alone can lead to a can of worms.
Is there a geodetic engineer out there who can come up with an honest-to-goodness survey of the areas covered by mangroves in terms of hectarage? What is the basic unit of measurement in appraising how much money, say, per hectare it would cost the rehabilitation of mangroves? And what, in God Almighty’s name, is so special about mangroves that Malacañang had to prioritize it over more pressing matters like poverty and housing problems besetting the poor? At least, they are more quantifiable than mangroves, to say the least.
P-Noy’s mental pattern is clear: As long as he is president of this country, he alone can spend over Php 150 billion of taxpayers’ money even without letting Congress and the public know. This is alright if his government was totalitarian in nature. But founded on democratic principles plagiarized from the founding fathers of the United States of America, his behavior should be anathema especially to the Constitution he has pledged to uphold, come hell or high water.
With the Supreme Court ruling DAP unconstitutional, P-Noy – so full of himself and his righteousness – rallied the people – or shall we say the “mob”? – behind him, urging them to wear yellow ribbons to support his “dictatorship” and, perhaps, exonerate him from his sins – all committed in “good faith”. But alas, instead of yellow ribbons, people wore black and peach ribbons to oppose his DAP and clamored for his impeachment. Are we now witnessing the beginning of the end of P-Noy? Only time can tell.
But from the looks of it, P-Noy doesn’t see it that way. Why? Because he still thinks he is in control of the government, as the one anointed by God Almighty to be at the helm of it. After all, isn’t his worldview anchored on self-righteousness?
Ah, so what kind of leader do Filipinos have now? A self-righteous leader who believes it is his mission to save the human race from eternal damnation? Just asking./PN
